Greenfield customers to receive official notice of safe drinking water
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
Greenfield residents will be receiving a notice with their upcoming water bill warning them about tests regarding coliform bacteria in the drinking water. Village officials want the residents to know the notice is a required follow-up to the recent boil alert, and does not mean that the water is currently unsafe.
"When you first read the headline, it induces panic, in my opinion," said Greenfield water plant operator Nathan Campbell. "We want people to understand this is just a follow up explaining that there is no longer any bacteria being detected in the water. We got final results (Thursday), and the water still tested OK."
A boil order went out on Jan. 27 for the southeastern portion of Greenfield after several wells tested positive for fecal coliform, or E. coli bacteria. After additional testing was performed over the weekend, the boil order went city-wide on Jan. 30. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was contacted, and the plant performed additional tests. The boil order was lifted Feb. 2.
Water bills will be sent out on Feb. 27, with residents receiving them around March 1. The notice will be included in the envelope with the bills.
"This particular paper is a federal guideline," Campbell said. "I have asked them to see if we can't tone it down so people have a better understanding. I'm afraid it could put fear in people and they we will think we're under another boil alert, but this is the process we have to have."
The paper states: "Public notice - Drinking Water Warning. Tests showed for coliform bacteria in Greenfield City PWS water. We routinely monitor for the presence of drinking water contaminants. We took six samples for coliform bacteria during January 2012. Those samples showed the presence of coliform bacteria. Nor more than one sample per month/5 percent of our samples may show the presence of coliform bacteria during a month."
The notice also states that "bacteria is no longer being detected and this problem has been resolved,"and gives tips on how to react if there is bacteria in the water.
For more information people are asked contact Campbell at (937) 981-2435, or to call the EPA safe drinking water hotline at (800) 426-4791.
Campbell said the village has not yet bee able to identify the cause of the bacteria, but that they remain diligent in testing and will keep investigating.
"We still haven't had a determination from the water and soil location," Campbell said. "The wells are located in a farm field, and is hard to get in and do actual testing. We've been digging around that particular well. We've seen a couple of groundhog holes that could have contributed to it, and there was also some tapering of the ground in soil type. If soil is granular, flood waters could drift right through. If it's nice, solid clay, the water will run away from it."
Greenfield City Manager Betty Bishop has previously said that Greenfield has eight wells, and they are using 25 percent capacity.
Campbell said, "We're going to be doing some things, even if we don't find a cause, and going to do some additional work to dress it up and make it look decent and work better before we put the well back online."
Greenfield residents will be receiving a notice with their upcoming water bill warning them about tests regarding coliform bacteria in the drinking water. Village officials want the residents to know the notice is a required follow-up to the recent boil alert and does not mean that the water is currently unsafe.
"When you first read the headline, it induces panic, in my opinion," said Greenfield water plant operator Nathan Campbell. "We want people to understand this is just a follow-up explaining that there is no longer any bacteria being detected in the water. We got final results (Thursday), and the water still tested OK."
A boil order went out on Jan. 27 for the southeastern portion of Greenfield after several wells tested positive for fecal coliform, or E. coli bacteria. After additional testing was performed over the weekend, the boil order went city-wide on Jan. 30. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was contacted, and the plant performed additional tests. The boil order was lifted Feb. 2.
Water bills will be sent out on Feb. 27, with residents receiving them around March 1. The notice will be included in the envelope with the bills.
"This particular paper is a federal guideline," Campbell said. "I have asked them to see if we can't tone it down so people have a better understanding. I'm afraid it could put fear in people and they we will think we're under another boil alert, but this is the process we have to have."
The paper states: "Public notice - Drinking Water Warning. Tests showed for coliform bacteria in Greenfield City PWS water. We routinely monitor for the presence of drinking water contaminants. We took six samples for coliform bacteria during January 2012. Those samples showed the presence of coliform bacteria. No more than one sample per month/5 percent of our samples may show the presence of coliform bacteria during a month."
[[In-content Ad]] The notice also states that "bacteria is no longer being detected and this problem has been resolved,"and gives tips on how to react if there is bacteria in the water.
For more information, people are asked to contact Campbell at (937) 981-2435 or to call the EPA safe drinking water hotline at (800) 426-4791.
Campbell said the village has not yet been able to identify the cause of the bacteria, but that they remain diligent in testing and will keep investigating.
"We still haven't had a determination from the water and soil location," Campbell said. "The wells are located in a farm field, and it is hard to get in and do actual testing. We've been digging around that particular well. We've seen a couple of groundhog holes that could have contributed to it, and there was also some tapering of the ground in soil type. If soil is granular, flood waters could drift right through. If it's nice, solid clay, the water will run away from it."
Greenfield City Manager Betty Bishop has previously said that Greenfield has eight wells, and they are using 25-percent capacity.
Campbell said, "We're going to be doing some things, even if we don't find a cause, and going to do some additional work to dress it up and make it look decent and work better before we put the well back online."