After several new treatment changes were enforced following speculation of unsafe levels of disinfection byproducts in the Bloomington water supply, the city has announced cleaner drinking water.
The City of Bloomington stated in a release May 5 disinfection byproduct levels have lowered significantly since changes were implemented and the city’s drinking water is safer to drink.
In January, Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton said the water in town was safe to drink — technically.
B&B Water Project Inc., which is a customer of the City of Bloomington Utilities department, recorded higher than average amounts of disinfection byproducts last year, which pushed a limit set by environmental regulatory agencies at state and federal levels, according to a Jan. 15 press release from the IU Bloomington Newsroom.
DBPs are the result of disinfectants like chlorine interacting with microorganisms in the water, according to the Jan. 15 release. Rising levels can’t be ignored, either — exposure to DBPs, in particular haloacetic acids and trihalomethanes have short-term effects of illness for the elderly, pregnant women and infants, and long-term effects as serious as higher risks of cancer.
These insecurities about Bloomington’s water quality come at the same time as the nationally recognized Flint, Michigan, water crisis, which has led to dangerously high levels of lead in children’s blood systems and discolored, unsafe water for its residents.
Hamilton was quoted in the Jan. 15 release as saying distribution of safe drinking water in Bloomington is mandatory to him.
“I don’t want our system to be close to the limit,” he said. “We want more cushion.”
According to the City of Bloomington website, Bloomington’s drinking water is drawn from surface water in Lake Monroe before being filtered and cleaned at the Monroe Water Treatment Plant.
Bloomington water is criticized as being particularly “hard,” at an average hardness of 50 ppm, according to the city’s website.
Hardness, caused by calcium and magnesium, is characterized by high levels of these two nontoxic materials. Water is considered hard at around 51.3 ppm.
After April 4, DBP levels have decreased, HAA5 levels are between 28 and 34 ug/l and TTHM levels are between 28.6 and 34.0 ug/l, a drastic change from the March report of 52-60 ug/l for HAA5s and 46.3-53.5 ug/l for TTHMs, according to the May 5 release from the City of Bloomington.
As decided in January because of concerns about water quality, the City of Bloomington Utilities Department has increased its testing from quarterly to monthly.
The department will continue to research and seek further short-term and long-term options to decrease DBP levels in Bloomington’s water, according to the release.
“While it is too early to know that the changes made at the treatment facility and in the delivery system will continue to produce encouraging test results, we remain committed to providing our customers with safe drinking water and water quality updates,” Hamilton said in the May 5 release .
Anicka Slachta
