ALBUQUERQUE, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., will soon begin testing new ways to treat arsenic-contaminated water.
The effort is designed to help reduce the cost to municipalities required to meet the new arsenic standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The testing is sponsored by the Arsenic Water Technology Partnership, a multi-year program funded by a congressional appropriation through the U.S. Department of Energy.
"The goals of the program are to develop, demonstrate, and disseminate information about cost-effective water treatment technologies in order to help small communities in the Southwest and other parts of the country comply with the new EPA standard," said Malcolm Siegel, Sandia Arsenic Treatment Technology Demonstration Project Manager.
The tests will be conducted at a geothermal spring used to supply drinking water to Socorro, N.M., 80 miles south of Albuquerque.
Levels of naturally occurring arsenic across the southwestern United States often exceed the new standards. The compliance requirements will impact small communities that lack appropriate treatment infrastructure and funding.
