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FACT SHEET
EPA's Water Treatment Demonstration Project to Reduce
Amount of Arsenic in Valley Vista, AZ, Drinking Water
Researchers from EPA's National Risk Management
Research Laboratory (NRMRL), headquartered in
Cincinnati, Ohio, are working in partnership with
Valley Vista, AZ, and a contractor to install and
operate a water treatment technology aimed at
reducing the level of arsenic in local drinking water.
Operation of the demonstration project began in
June, 2004, and is being regularly monitored to
determine progress.
Background
Arsenic is a naturally occurring contaminant found in
ground water in various locations throughout the
United States. Research and development efforts at EPA have identified certain technologies
that remove arsenic from drinking water. Some community water systems often face
challenges in choosing the right technology to reduce the level of arsenic. Therefore, in select
demonstration projects across the country, just like this one in Valley Vista, EPA is partnering
with municipalities and equipment producers to bring the most appropriate drinking water
technology into the field and demonstrate their effectiveness.
The Project
New water treatment equipment is installed to reduce arsenic in a community's drinking water.
The water quality is then monitored to verify the effectiveness of the treatment. The
equipment, an activated alumina adsorptive media system, used in a Valley Vista installation is
produced by Kinetico, Inc., working under a Cooperative Research and Development
Agreement. The equipment was matched to characteristics of the source water. While Valley
Vista will operate the new equipment, scientists from Battelle, an EPA contractor in Ohio, will
track the operation of the arsenic removal technology by analyzing weekly water samples.
EPA will use the results from this project and others like it to demonstrate new methods for
arsenic removal from drinking water.
more
Valley Vista's new arsenic
water treatment equipment
Building a scientific foundation for sound environmental decisions

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The Goal
The goal of this project is to demonstrate and verify the effectiveness of an activated alumina
technology in reducing levels of arsenic in Valley Vista's drinking water from around 40 parts
per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb or lower. Operational cost is also being studied.
Expected Outcomes
•	Other small communities will gain knowledge about the performance of arsenic
removal technology through the results of the demonstration project. The results
will assist them in selecting the most appropriate and cost effective technology to
use at their sites.
•	Residents will benefit by having arsenic levels in their drinking water reduced
below 10 ppb, complying with the new EPA standard for arsenic in drinking
water.
Details about these demonstration projects can be found at this Web site:
http://www.epa.gov/ORD/NRMRL/arsenic.
Technical Contact: Tom Sorg - (513) 569-7370 - sorg.tom@epa.gov
March 8, 2005

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