By Michael V. Hannigan
The City of Athens sent out a notice this week that is is experiencing elevated levels of haloacetic acids in the drinking water (see below). This is the second time this year the City has issued such a notice.
This is a problem with organic matter (grass, leaves, etc.) interacting with chlorine during the water disinfection processing. I’ve been told the City is talking with AMWA about trying to get the intake valve at the lake moved deeper, to avoid getting so much organic matter sucked up in the first place, but that would be expensive so I’m not sure that is going to happen.
The City is also looking to rearrange some of the steps of the disinfection process so that the organic matter gets taken out of the system before the chlorine is added … but that takes state approval and you know how government red tape can be.
Part of the problem is that the City has had to take storage tanks off line while they rehabilitate them, and having them out of the loop is adding to the problem, I am told. But those tanks have been out of compliance since 2011, so there really isn’t any choice at this point. … In addition, there are more tanks scheduled to be rehabilitated in the coming fiscal year, so this problem could linger.
One of the things you’ll see in the City’s announcement is talk of rehabilitating the water system. The City has already dedicated about $2.5 million this fiscal year and the next toward that goal, and that doesn’t even include whatever money is spent on the haloacetic acids problem specifically.
The truth is, that $2.5 million probably won’t do much more than get the City in compliance with state regulations. After that, Athens will still have to face the fact that it has an aging water and sewer system that needs upgrades and replacements.
Notice from the City of Athens
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has notified the City of Athens that the drinking water being supplied to customers had exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for haloacetic acids. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has established the MCL for haloacetic acids to be 0.060 milligrams per liter (mg/L) based on locational running annual average (LRAA), and has determined that it is a health concern at levels above the MCL. Analysis of drinking water in your community for haloacetic acids indicates a compliance value in quarter two 2016 of 0.067 mg/L for DBP2-01 and 0.068 mg/L for DBP2-04.
Haloacetic acids are a group of volatile organic compounds that are formed when chlorine, added to the water during the treatment process for disinfection, reacts with naturally-occurring organic matter in the water.
Some people who drink water containing HAAS in excess of the MCL over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
You do not need to use an alternative water supply. However, if you have health concerns, you may want to talk to your doctor to get more information about how this may affect you.
We are taking the following actions to address this issue:
- We are systematically rehabilitating our Elevated Storage Tanks, Ground Storage Tanks, and distribution piping to ensure that we meet TCEQ and AWWA requirements. In the long term, rehabilitating the infrastructure will help the City provide better quality water for its citizens upon the remediation’s completion. In the short term, it may increase the levels of disinfection byproducts as sections of the distribution system are isolated for rehabilitation which may create longer reaction times and higher water age. This is only temporary; however and will not be an ongoing issue.
- We are developing strategic replacement plans for all of our current water infrastructure, and we are planning for the City’s future water infrastructure by working with engineering consultants who specialize in water treatment and distribution.
- We are hiring new Water Treatment Staff and training our current staff to help them better navigate water treatment techniques and water distribution procedures.
- We expect full compliance to begin the first quarter of 2017.
Please share this information with all people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (i.e., people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
If you have questions regarding this matter, you may contact Lawrence Cutrone with the City of Athens at 903-677-1735.
Is this a City of Athens problem or a Water District problem? Seems like it is a Water District problem if the intake valve is too shallow and sucks in debris.
I’ll tell you what the problem is. People would rather buy corporately bottled water than take pride in their own communities.
So basically, everyone in Athens, Texas can afford to drive a four door truck about town, but the community can’t drink the tap water without smelling it first.
Brilliant.