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In January 2001, the Arsenic Rule was published in the Federal Register. This rule, which has since been rescinded for further review by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), established a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 ug/L for arsenic in drinking water for both community and non-transient non-community (NTNC) water systems. More than 99 percent of the water systems affected by this rule depend upon groundwater. Despite the delay in promulgation, the Arsenic Rule will reportedly still come into effect in 2006. In the intervening years, there will be a great deal of research into developing simple and cost effective treatment technologies for arsenic removal from drinking water. Despite the technological improvements, it will still be costly to remove arsenic from groundwater. The purpose of this paper is to outline the geology and geochemistry of arsenic, so that utilities may consider non-treatment alternatives when complying with the Arsenic Rule.Arsenic has been found in groundwaters throughout the United States in concentrations higher than the most recently proposed MCL. A large percentage of these systems that exceed 10 ug/L are in the Western United States, which is defined as the eleven most western states. Although this paper focuses on the geology of these states, many other regions of the United States,from the industrial Midwest to parts of New England, have groundwaters with arsenic concentrations greater than 10 ug/L. Includes 24 references, table, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 06/01/2001 Number of Pages: 10File Size: 1 file , 410 KB