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FACT SHEET

EPA's Water Treatment Demonstration Project to Reduce
Amount of Arsenic in Felton, DE, Drinking Water

Researchers from EPA's National Risk Management
Research Laboratory (NRMRL), headquartered in
Cincinnati, Ohio, are working in partnership with Felton,

DE 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, 2006, 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 Felton, 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
used in Felton 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 Felton 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

Felton's new arsenic water
treatment equipment

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The Goal

The goal of this project is to demonstrate and verify the effectiveness of Kinetico, Inc.,
technology in reducing levels of arsenic in Felton's drinking water from around 30 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/nrmrl/wswrd/dw/arsenic.

Technical Contact: Tom Sorg - (513) 569-7370 - sorg.tom@epa.gov

June 27, 2006


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