Of particular interest to EPA should be the Partnership's document that examines the four most promising treatment technologies. There has been much talk of late about the promising technology of bioremediation. However, we would like to remind EPA that using microbes in drinking water processes is not conventional and, to our knowledge, has never been approved as a drinking water treatment in the state of California. Water suppliers go to great lengths to remove all microbial contamination from drinking water. Introducing microbes would cause utilities to apply more disinfection, which in turn creates more disinfection byproducts.
Disinfection byproducts can be quite harmful in high doses.
Water providers must delicately maintain a proper balance of disinfection and disinfection byproducts in the water supply. Adding microbes for drinking water treatment could in the end cause more problems than it solves. C. Alternatives to MTBE 1. ACWA is unaware of any replacements for MTBE other than those mentioned in the Notice 2. Since MTBE has been primary oxygenate used in California, we are not very familiar with the release of other oxygenates to the environment.