Effects of Gasoline Formulation on Methyl <i>tert</i>-Butyl Ether (MTBE) Contamination in Private Wells near Gasoline Stations

Lince, D. P.; Wilson, Lloyd R.; Carlson, G. Anders; Bucciferro, Anthony

doi:10.1021/es0010305

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Because it has no other uses, its presence indicates contamination by gasoline; its concentrations are higher in wells near gasoline stations and particularly high near gasoline stations that sell oxygenated fuel. 22 MTBE is toxic and carcinogenic in experimental animals 23 and is now banned in most states. Ethanol will likely replace MTBE entirely for oxygenating fuel.…”

Section: Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ethermentioning

confidence: 99%

Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children

Rogan

Brady²,

Binns³

et al. 2009

Pediatrics

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Drinking water for approximately one sixth of US households is obtained from private wells. These wells can become contaminated by pollutant chemicals or pathogenic organisms, leading to significant illness. Although the US Environmental Protection Agency and all states offer guidance for construction, maintenance, and testing of private wells, there is little regulation, and with few exceptions, well owners are responsible for their own wells. Children may also drink well water at child care or when traveling. Illness resulting from children's ingestion of contaminated water can be severe. This report reviews relevant aspects of groundwater and wells; describes the common chemical and microbiologic contaminants; gives an algorithm with recommendations for inspection, testing, and remediation for wells providing drinking water for children; reviews the definitions and uses of various bottled waters; provides current estimates of costs for well testing; and provides federal, national, state, and, where appropriate, tribal contacts for more information. Pediatrics 2009;123:e1123-e1137 BACKGROUND Approximately 15% to 20% of households in the United States obtain their water from private wells. 1 Public drinking water systems are regulated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with national drinking water regulations providing the legally enforceable standards. Unlike municipal water supplies and some community wells, private wells are not subject to federal regulations and are minimally regulated by states. States sometimes require that a well be dug or drilled by a certified contractor and that the water from the well be tested at least once for nitrate and coliform bacteria. After that, the owner of the well is not required to inspect the well or test the water; only New Jersey requires testing at the time of resale. The states, the Navajo Nation, and the EPA offer suggested inspection and testing schedules (Appendix).Well water is not sterile, nor does it need to be, but it should be free of fecal contamination; such contamination is usually detected by coliform bacteria counts. In Iowa wells in the 1990s, 27% had coliforms. 2 Rigorous data are not available to compare the frequency of illness between children drinking well water versus municipal water. In a Canadian study of 235 rural households using well water, the odds of a child younger than 10 years having an episode of gastrointestinal illness, given the presence of at least 5 colony-forming units of Escherichia coli in the water, was 4.2 (95% confidence interval: 1.1-16.2) times higher than that for adults older than 50 years. 3 However, the risk as compared with the child drinking uncontaminated water was not studied. In a clinical trial of reverse-osmosis water filters, which should remove all infectious agents, in families drinking municipal water meeting bacteriologic standards, approximately 30% of acute gastrointestinal illnesses were prevented by the filters, with no difference according to age group. This study showed that even...

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Section: Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ethermentioning

confidence: 99%

Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children

Rogan

Brady²,

Binns³

et al. 2009

Pediatrics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…TBA is common MTBE hydrolysis and biodegradation product. As regards that MTBE biodegradation reaction has to be conducted by specific strain in an aerobic condition, which such a condition isn't available in underground water, therefore, TBA can not be formed as a result of MTBE biodegradation [8] . It seems that, aluminosilicate compounds in the earth layers can catalyze the MTBE hydrolysis reaction in a long term period.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A modeling research has indicated that MTBE plume lengths will extend in the coming years hence significant numbers of MTBE release accidents may continue to reveal this contaminant as problematic source of contamination for the environment as of the year of 2010 [7,8] . Investigation conducted by a Blue Ribbon Panel of the USEPA, reported that MTBE concentration in approximately 1% of drinking water supplies exceeded 20 ppb [9] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remediation of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether Contaminated Water by Using In situ Catalytic and Biological Combined Techniques

Nikpay¹,

Kazemian²,

Sadeghi³

2008

American J. of Environmental Sciences

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Abstract:The hydrolysis reaction of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) into biodegradable products was studied on as-synthesized and commercial H-MFI zeolites. The effect of synthesis procedure and SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ratio was investigated. The results obtained were indicated that H-MFI zeolites were effective in MTBE hydrolysis and increasing of the Si/Al ratio promotes the hydrolysis reaction. The amount of produced TBA was always lower than what expected estoichiometericaly. It is concluded that the missing amount of TBA can be a result of possible formation of an alkene. The capability of indigenous microorganism to biodegrade hydrolysis products in presence of zeolite was also studied. Microorganism was able to use products except TBA produced intermediate carbocation hasn't any adverse effects on the microbial activity.

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“…This article documents the application of a low-cost, expedient, scalable UVP system that has been successfully applied at a gasoline station, together with destruction efficiency data useful for design of such a treatment system. MTBE is a gasoline constituent that, in large measure because of its high solubility in water, is viewed as a widespread environmental problem and a potential threat to groundwater in several areas of the country (Lince et al, 2001;Squillace et al, 1998).The treatment of gasoline contamination in groundwater, and consequently of MTBE, has relied for the most part on the standard groundwater pump-and-treat system, often coupled with soil vapor extraction (SVE) or dual-phase extraction systems. In many of these remediation systems, the extracted groundwater is passed through virgin coconut carbon to adsorb MTBE and other dissolved gasoline constituents from the extracted groundwater so as to allow for the discharge of the treated water to sewer or stormwater runoff collection systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ex situ treatment of MTBE‐containing groundwater by a UV peroxide system

Jamall¹,

Lu²,

Powers³

2006

Remediation Journal

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This article describes the design, implementation, and operating results for an ex situ ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide (UVP) system to treat methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in extracted groundwater. The UVP modification was designed to reduce the operation and maintenance costs of an existing groundwater pump-and-treat treatment system that relied on air stripping and carbon adsorption. The UVP system is relatively inexpensive and can easily be scaled to cope with different groundwater extraction rates up to 80 gpm by adding UV lamps in series or in parallel at the higher groundwater extraction rates. The MTBE concentration in the effluent from the UVP system to the carbon vessels decreased from an average of 590 µg/L to approximately 2 µg/L on average over 33 months of operation of the UVP. Incorporation of this UVP modification as a second-stage treatment to the groundwater pump-and-treat/soil vapor extraction system, after the air stripper and prior to the carbon vessels, significantly increased the usable life of the carbon (from two months previously to about two years after installation) and completely resolved the issue of frequent MTBE breakthroughs of the carbon that had plagued the remediation system since its inception.

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Effects of Gasoline Formulation on Methyl tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) Contamination in Private Wells near Gasoline Stations

Cited by 15 publications

References 10 publications

Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children

Drinking Water From Private Wells and Risks to Children

Remediation of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether Contaminated Water by Using In situ Catalytic and Biological Combined Techniques

Ex situ treatment of MTBE‐containing groundwater by a UV peroxide system

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