Water Quality

In far south St. Louis County, workers are using huge machines to dig a $175 million tunnel. It’s part of a Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District project aimed at preventing sewers from overflowing. That could allow the district to treat all of the region's wastewater and protect the environment.

The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has completed the drilling phase of the Jefferson Barracks Tunnel. The seven-foot-diameter pipe will run up to 220 feet underground and about three miles. The entire project is to be completed in 2026.

Nonpoint source pollution is the biggest threat to water quality today — but the Clean Water Act isn’t fully capable of tackling it, two Mizzou researchers say.

A cross-disciplinary study suggests the multiple laws and regulations designed to protect water aren’t working, and a new focus on drinking water can fix that.

The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates there are at least 330,000 lead pipes funneling tap water into Missouri homes and other buildings — the sixth-highest of any state in the nation.

Missouri American Water Director Timothy Ganz discusses how high demand for water impacts the Missouri River, immediate and long-term threats to the river and what it takes to produce clean drinking water from a waterway with such high turbidity levels.

St. Louis and EPA officials say the city’s water treatment system needs to be updated to continue to provide safe drinking water and withstand climate change. Leaders say they’ve identified more than $400 million worth of upgrades, including the removal of lead service lines that deliver water.

Agriculture is among the largest contributors to the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone. Farmers upriver are trying to change their agricultural practices to prevent further damage, but so far are having little luck.

Missouri’s population of hellbenders is in trouble. These aquatic salamanders have seen a 70% population decline in the state over the past four decades. Scientists now fear local extinction. We discuss a local effort to bring the hellbender back from the brink.

Public records obtained by researchers at Virginia Tech show the city of Quincy changed its water treatment processes in the months leading up to the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, which may have allowed Legionella bacteria to multiply throughout the water system.