Precautionary boil water alert required for all of Monroe County due to violation of turbidity standard – The B Square
Since approximately 3:25 p.m. on Saturday (August 17), residents of Monroe County have been advised to boil their water as a precautionary measure. The reason for this is the IDEM (Indiana Indiana Department of Environmental Management) regulation that such an advisory must be issued when drinking water standards are not met.
The standard in question is a “turbidity” value that indicates how clear or cloudy the water is. According to the City of Bloomington (CBU), high turbidity itself has no health effects.
However, turbidity can impair disinfection and provide a breeding ground for microbial growth, according to CBU.
According to CBU Communications Manager Holly McLauchlin, the precautionary boil water advisory applies to all of Monroe County, not just CBU customers. That’s because CBU is the wholesale supplier for other water utilities in the county.
According to a press release from the City of Bloomington, all Monroe County residents should follow these instructions:
- If you have cloudy water, run COLD water from a sink or tub until clear water flows
from the tap. - Boil water for drinking, cooking and oral hygiene for at least 2 minutes before use.
for consumption. - For other purposes it is not necessary to boil water.
According to McLauchlin, the excessive turbidity level measured on Friday, August 16, exceeded the limit of 1 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Unit) allowed by the IDEM regulation.
The precautionary boil water advisory cannot be lifted until a series of tests are completed, McLauchlin said, which she believes will be completed by Monday at the latest, but possibly sooner.
High turbidity is generally due to suspended particles. In this case, it is sand, which is usually used in water treatment.
Due to an operator error, some sand used as part of the disinfection process got into a portion of the treatment stream that comes after the sand filter, CBU communications manager Holly McLauchlin told The B Square.
As a normal part of the treatment process, already chlorinated water is filtered through a sand well, McLauchlin said. After a certain volume is filtered, the sand gets a little “dirty,” she said. At that point, the sand is usually backwashed to clean it.
According to McLauchlin, the cause of the increased turbidity was that during the backwash process, some water containing some sand was carried forward into the next phase of the treatment process.
The precautionary boil water notice was sent out through Monroe County’s emergency alert system at around 3:25 p.m. Saturday afternoon. McLauchlin said she called Justin Baker, Monroe County’s deputy emergency management director, to send the message.
The emergency warning was followed a few minutes later by a press release from the city of Bloomington.
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