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Cluster
Busters
The Case of Ms. Ima Well
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Water
Quality Information - Somewhere Town, Florida
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The Somewhere Town Water Utility knows how important
clean water is to this town. As a service to our customers we
provide information on some common water testing and treatments.
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Common Water
Tests
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to the Environmental Quality Office |
| Many items, including bacteria, chlorine,
pH, total dissolved solids, and chemical contaminants, are closely
monitored to ensure a safe drinking water supply. Below is
a brief description of each test: |
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| Coliform Bacteria: Coliforms
are a type of bacteria which occur widely in the environment in
places such as surface water, soil, and decaying organic matter.
This group of bacteria includes the fecal coliform group which grows
in the intestines of warm blooded animals. While this group of coliform
bacteria are generally not harmful in themselves, they have long
been used as an indication of water quality. Generally if coliform
bacteria are present, other harmful bacteria are likely to be present.
Most of the harmful bacteria cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea,
low-grade fever, and vomiting |
| Coliform samples are carefully collected
in sterilized bottles. A certain portion of each sample is mixed
with a nutrient medium and incubated for twenty-four hours. A color
change or the production of gas indicates the presence of coliform
bacteria. |
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| Chlorine: Chlorine is the most
widely used drinking water disinfectant in North America. Chlorine
is added to drinking water as either a gas or as a solid already
dissolved in water. |
| Chlorine is measured in the field using
a portable instrument.. Federal regulations require at least 0.2
parts per million of chlorine where water enters the distribution
system and at least a detectable amount of chlorine in 95 percent
of the samples taken from the water distribution system. When the
level of chlorine is above 0.5 parts per million, most people can
smell chlorine in the water. |
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| Mineral Content: Mineral content
measures the amount of total dissolved solids, or TDS, in the water.
The federal secondary drinking water standard for TDS is 500 parts
per million. There is no health basis for this level, but many people
can detect a salty taste in the water when TDS is above 500 parts
per million. |
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| pH: pH is a measurement of a
water's acidity. Water with a pH below 7.0 is considered acidic.
Water with a pH above 7.0 is considered basic. pH is measured
in the laboratory on the same day the water samples are collected
from the system. |
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Chemical Contaminants: If there is a known
region of groundwater contamination near one of our pumping stations,
we continually monitor the water for the known chemical contaminants.
For example, the city landfill has contributed to groundwater
contamination near our southeastern pumping station (6200 Barrel
Lane). The contaminants of concern for that region are lead and
cadmium, so we carefully monitor the water for the presence of
these 2 metals. So far, the water we pump from the southeastern
sector is not contaminated.
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