Benjamin D. Stanford

• PhD
• Associate Vice President at Hazen and Sawyer, D.P.C.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is cons i dering a regulatory revision of the Disinfectant and Disinfection Byproduct Rule (DBPR) with a goal of limiting nationwide exposure to DBPs of emerging health concern. The occurrence of four brominated haloacetic acids (HAAs), which are generally more toxic in in vitro assays than the five cu...

The California Energy Commission funded a study to evaluate two technologies to assess their usefulness as an early leak detection tool for alerting field teams and to better understand the impact on energy savings through managing water loss. Specifically, the latest in advanced correlating continuous acoustic monitoring and satellite imagery leak...

A redesign, construction, and replacement of the filters used for water reuse at a 11 million gallon per day Florida municipal water reclamation facility provided a prime opportunity to evaluate the impact of the filtration technologies on water quality, trace organic contaminant (TOrC) removal, and removal of pathogens. This study was designed to...

We evaluated the efficacy of granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption for mitigating formation of chlorine disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in water with a wide range of bromide (20–1000 μg L−1) and iodide (<5–100 μg L−1) concentrations. GAC effectiveness was assessed by determining speciated total organic halogen (TOX), 70 DBPs, and calculated cyt...

This study measured chlorine- and chloramine-reactive precursors using formation potential (FP) tests of nine U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulated and 57 unregulated disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in tertiary-filtered wastewater before and after pilot-scale granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption. Using breakthrough of precursor...

The hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) process is being widely adopted as a design, control, and operational methodology to maintain the reliability of delivering water quality that is safe for public health. This study applied the HACCP methodology to identify and assess the reliability of critical control points and critical monit...

Biological activated carbon (BAC) is widely used as a polishing step at full-scale drinking water plants to remove taste and odor compounds and assimilable organic carbon. BAC, especially with pre-ozonation, has been previously studied to control regulated disinfection by-products (DBPs) and DBP precursors. However, most previous studies only inclu...

Granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption is well-established for controlling regulated disinfection by-products (DBPs), but its effectiveness for unregulated DBPs and DBP-associated toxicity is unclear. In this study, GAC treatment was evaluated at three full-scale chlorination drinking water treatment plants over different GAC service lives for...

A comparison of two applications commonly used to detect cyanotoxins—ELISA and LC‐MS/MS—has the added benefit of providing kinetic data to validate cyanotox V.1.0.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is an antibody-based analytical method that has been widely applied in water treatment utilities for the screening of toxic cyanobacteria metabolites such as microcystins (MCs). However, it is unknown how the minor structural difference of MCs may impact their chlorination kinetics and measurement via ELISA...

Extreme weather events have presented significant challenges to drinking water quality managers in Australia and elsewhere. Examples of extreme weather events include droughts, floods, cyclones, and wildfires. With global climate change, an increased frequency and severity of diverse extreme weather events is projected for many parts of the world....

Research has been conducted on how to effectively control microbial hazards for an increasing number of water reuse projects in the United States and around the world. Operators play a vital role in today's ever‐evolving water reuse management frameworks.

A 10‐month pilot test of advanced oxidation processes helped find the most efficient reuse solution for the city of hollywood to address new florida statutes.

Water treatment combining advanced oxidative processes with subsequent exposure to biological activated carbon (BAC) holds promise for the attenuation of recalcitrant pollutants. Here we contrast oxidation and subsequent biofiltration of treated wastewater effluent employing either ozone or UV/H2O2 followed by BAC during pilot-scale implementation....

CyanoTOX is a spreadsheet tool developed to estimate the removal of extracellular cyanotoxins and help utilities address the complexities of the oxidation of cyanotoxins.

This study investigated co-occurrences of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in order to develop effective monitoring strategies. EDCs/PPCPs were clustered on the basis of similarities in their occurrence in surface waters to reduce analytical complexity. Chemometric approaches were applied...

Direct potable reuse (DPR) increases water supplies, but possible DPR‐blending scenarios and water quality must be evaluated at blending locations.

Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) is increasingly being considered as one of many possible water supply options for water utilities in various locations throughout the US. However, as with any new water supply, it needs to be considered vis-à-vis other technologies or solutions, including a ‘no action’ scenario to determine the true value and economic imp...

Rainwater and stormwater harvesting are stormwater management practices that can reduce nutrient loads; however, the availability of a consistent and substantial water demand can substantially limit the water quality benefits provided by these systems. Integrating stormwater harvesting with a wastewater reuse system can alleviate concerns regarding...

Exposure to chlorination disinfection by-products (CxDBPs) is prevalent in populations using chlorination-based methods to disinfect public water supplies. Multifaceted research has been directed for decades to identify, characterize, and understand the toxicology of these compounds, control and minimize their formation, and conduct epidemiologic s...

Chlorate, currently included in the US Environmental Protection Agency's monitoring of unregulated contaminants and on the contaminant candidate list, could potentially receive a regulatory determination in the near future. This article, using available literature along with past and current monitoring data, assesses the presence of chlorate in dri...

Many water agencies in the United States and around the world have been turning to the potable reuse of municipal wastewater, either directly or indirectly, to help meet growing demands. Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) is the supply of highly treated reclaimed water directly to a drinking water treatment plant or distribution system, with or without an...

The analysis of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCP), present at trace level in surface waters, is often expensive, time-consuming, and complex. Implementing effective monitoring strategies for these compounds is essential to determine the types of analytes, sampling locations, and sampling freq...

Rising wastewater effluent discharge standards have led to more advanced wastewater treatment while growing demand has taxed existing drinking water supplies, making planned indirect potable reuse a feasible scenario for more utilities. A majority of planned indirect potable reuse schemes currently in operation or planned to be employed in the U.S....

The additional removal of trace organic contaminants (TOrCs) provided by advanced water and wastewater treatment inevitably requires additional financial costs, which must be estimated to support utility planning and compare alternatives. This study presents conceptual-level (Class 4) capital and annual operations and maintenance (O&M) cost curve e...

Many water utilities have recently initiated or are considering initiating monitoring programs to establish baseline contaminant concentrations of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceuticals/personal care products (PPCPs) in their water supply. Unfortunately, monitoring sites and sampling frequency have often been conducted without re...

Droughts, which are difficult to predict, are a natural feature of the hydrology in most regions. Climate change, however, has the potential to increase the frequency and magnitude of future droughts. While the lack of water availability during droughts is widely publicized, there are equally severe water quality impacts that occur during and after...

The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District in California is considering groundwater replenishment as a potential strategy to augment its potable water supply. This case study demonstrates the broad applicability of ozone and biological activated carbon (BAC) for such potable reuse sys- tems based on recently developed criteria and models...

Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) are finding key treatment niches in several applications, including groundwater remediation, water reuse, seasonal taste and odor control, and organic contaminant oxidation. AOPs are incorporated into a water treatment process train when traditional methods for the removal of organics like coagulation, filtration,...

The increased use of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2) in consumer products such as sunscreen has raised concerns about their possible risk to human and environmental health. In this work, we report the occurrence, size fractionation and behavior of titanium (Ti) in a children's swimming pool. Size-fractionated samples were analyzed for Ti...

The WateReuse Research Foundation project 08-08 (“Pilot-Scale Oxidative Technologies for Reducing Fouling Potential in Water Reuse and Drinking Water Treatment Membrane Systems”), which completed in 2012, continuously piloted two reuse trains to investigate ozone for fouling control in water reuse applications. One treatment train incorporated ozon...

This study evaluated the occurrence and temporal variability of chlorate, perchlorate, and bromate in 26 low-strength onsite-generated (OSG) hypochlorite systems and three high-strength systems. None of the samples from the systems tested would have contributed more than 1 mu g/L perchlorate to the finished water, even at a 10-mg/L chlorine dose; s...

Disinfection byproduct (DBP) formation during the treatment of raw Colorado River Water (CRW) using aqueous chlorine and ultraviolet (UV) light advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) was investigated. Here, CRW was combined with aqueous chlorine from two distinct sources (electrochemically—generated Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS) and commercial sodium h...

A better understanding of relationships among weather patterns and water quality will allow utilities to more effectively plan for the effects of climate change. Best practice requires understanding as much as possible about changes that can occur and their implications for utility operations and management. This article provides information compil...

The analysis of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCP), present at trace levels in surface waters, is often expensive, time-consuming and complex. Implementing effective monitoring strategies for these compounds is essential to determine the types of analytes, sampling locations and sampling frequ...

Combining microfiltration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO) is an accepted practice for treating secondary effluent to allowable levels for common and advanced reuse applications. Several municipalities in the United States and abroad use this combination on a large scale. This leads to the next innovation in treating wastewater—membrane bioreactors (M...

An ozone and ozone/peroxide oxidation process was evaluated at pilot scale for trace organic contaminant (TOrC) mitigation and NDMA formation in both drinking water and water reuse applications. A reverse osmosis (RO) pilot was also evaluated as part of the water reuse treatment train. Ozone/peroxide showed lower electrical energy per order of remo...

The purpose of this bench-top study was to demonstrate the feasibility and effect of applying ozone and ozone/peroxide upstream of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes as a means of controlling organic fouling during reuse applications. A series of ozone or ozone/peroxide doses was applied to surface water and a membrane bioreactor (MBR) filtrate using a...

Hypochlorite solutions contain oxyhalide species such as perchlorate, chlorate, and bromate that form during and after manufacture. Such oxyhalide species have the potential to contaminate finished drinking water if adequate control measures are not taken to minimize their formation during manufacture, shipment, and storage of hypochlorite solution...

This article discusses the effectiveness of using chloramination to comply with the Stage 2 Disinfectants and Disinfection Byproducts Rule (Stage 2 DBPR), if potential nitrosamine formation during and after chloramination might be the result.

One of the two main objectives of this study is to use two pass membrane desalination system and to oxidize permeate of the first pass with ozone, as disinfection by products (DBPs) formed by ozone are rather limited. Second objective of this work; is to increase the pH levels to 10 in the permeate of the first desalination pass in order to promote...

The project introductory questionnaires and the Australia workshop have been very useful means for introducing project goals and objectives and gathering initial information from a geographically diverse group of project partners regarding water quality impacts from extreme weather events. The open-ended questionnaire and the matrix charting/presen...

Water utilities around the world are facing increasing demands being placed on the limited water resources available and, as such, are turning to new strategies to ensure a sustainable, safe, reliable drinking water supply. Included within the portfolio of strategies available to utilities to stretch drinking water supplies are potable reuse, indir...

This study demonstrates a relative exposure to estrogenic activity and other trace contaminants in drinking water compared with food, beverage, and air exposure. Drinking water for nearly 28 million people in 17 US cities plus 40 food and beverage items was screened for 51 trace contaminants, including suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs...

This study demonstrates a relative exposure to estrogenic activity and other trace contaminants in drinking water compared with food, beverage, and air exposure. Drinking water for nearly 28 million people in 17 US cities plus 40 food and beverage items was screened for 51 trace contaminants, including suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs...

The concentrations of selected wastewater contaminants, including conductivity, nitrate, and pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), were monitored from 2003 to 2007 in Lake Mead, the raw (untreated) drinking water for southern Nevada. Monitoring was also conducted in two inflows to Lake Mead: the Colorado River and the wastewate...

The impact that varying qualities of wastewater may have on the movement of steroid estrogens through soils into groundwater is little understood. In this study, the steroid estrogens 17β-estradiol (E2) and estrone (E1) were followed through batch and column studies to examine the impact that organic wastewater constituents from on-site wastewater...

A series of five on-site wastewater treatment systems were monitored for the removal of steroid estrogens, nonylphenols, and total estrogenic activity through several stages of pretreatment including aerobic and anaerobic sand filters. The objectives of this study were (1) to examine the ability of traditional septic systems and different types of...

A sensitive, rapid, and rugged liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for measuring concentrations of perchlorate, chlorate, and bromate ions in concentrated sodium hypochlorite solutions is presented. The LC-MS/MS method offers a practical quantitation limit (PQL) of 0.05 microg L(-1) for ClO(4)(-), 0.2 microg L(-1)...

This study evaluated a pilot-scale nonthermal plasma (NTP) advanced oxidation process (AOP) for the degradation of trace organic compounds such as pharmaceuticals and potential endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs). The degradation of seven indicator compounds was monitored in tertiary-treated wastewater and spiked surface water to evaluate the eff...

Measurable levels of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceutically active compounds have been detected in septic systems at concentrations well above those shown to cause sexual and developmental abnormalities in vertebrate and invertebrate aquatic species. Specifically, compounds such as steroid hormones and nonionic surfactant metabo...

Although pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PPCPs), and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are largely unregulated, wastewater utilities are now employing advanced chemical/physical treatment technologies (e.g., advanced oxidation and reverse osmosis) to remove or destroy these trace organic contaminants (TOrCs). This is an effort to reduc...

This article discusses a study by the Southern Nevada Water Authority that investigated the rate of perchlorate and other oxyhalide species formation in hypochlorite solutions. The motivation for the study came from the recently proposed Drinking Water System Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 3258) that could decrease the usage of chlorine gas at water an...

Due to recent changes in water quality regulations and increased awareness of contaminants of emerging concern, some water and wastewater utilities are augmenting their treatment trains with advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). The most common AOPs are peroxide-assisted UV or ozone, but there are also novel alternatives such as photocatalysis and n...

A photocatalytic reactor membrane pilot system, employing UV/TiO(2) photocatalysis, was evaluated for its ability to remove thirty-two pharmaceuticals, endocrine disrupting compounds, and estrogenic activity from water. Concentrations of all compounds decreased following treatment, and removal followed pseudo-first-order kinetics as a function of t...

The drinking water for more than 28 million people was screened for a diverse group of pharmaceuticals, potential endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), and other unregulated organic contaminants. Source water, finished drinking water, and distribution system (tap) water from 19 U.S. water utilities was analyzed for 51 compounds between 2006 and 20...

A simplified, in-line solid-phase extraction and clean-up process is presented for rapid extraction and analysis of steroid estrogens and nonylphenols by gas chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Isotope dilution with multiple deuterated standards has been developed, evaluated, and verified using this method against standard addition for th...

Measurable levels of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceutically active compounds in environmental waters have been reported in numerous studies and have been shown to cause sexual and developmental abnormalities in vertebrate and invertebrate aquatic species at environmentally relevant concentrations. Specifically, compounds such as...