Bloomington pulled samples to check the levels of disinfection by-products earlier this week. The city is fighting to keep that level within the EPA's standards. The measurements taken this week will show whether the city's actions are lowering the levels.
From the basement of the city's water treatment plant, in a room filled with pipes, about 15 million gallons of water are headed out toward Bloomington residents and businesses every day.
Water plays a large role in public health and the economy, and Bloomington is fighting to keep its water in line with federal regulations. Mayor John Hamilton says he held two press conferences on the issue in his first 100 days in office.
"When I came into office, January of this year, I found out that our water system had this one aspect that was climbing toward the federal safety limits, and I immediately wanted people to know that and let them know we were going to jump on this and take care of it," says Mayor Hamilton.
Hamilton is referring to the level of Disinfection By-Products, or DBPs in Bloomington's water. They are created when disinfectants, like chlorine, interact with organic matter. Ingesting too many DBPs over time is linked to adverse health risks like cancer.
Bloomington sources their drinking water from Lake Monroe. SPEA's Jeff White says that water contains organic matter.
"And the source of the organic matter could be a broad range of possibilities. It could be natural things occurring in any watershed related to the growth of plant material to algae growing in the lake to microbial organisms growing within the distribution system. Any one of those sources of organic material could be a precursors to the formation of these disinfectant byproducts," says White.
When the city pulls the water in from the lake, they use chlorine to kill microbes in the water. The chlorine creates DBPs when they interact with that organic matter.
This month, the city made considerable changes to their process. They began adding chlorine later in the process-after some of the organics are removed. They've also adjusted how much chlorine is used, and they've started flushing water mains throughout the city.
If these approaches work, they could reverse a trend that has been going on for a long time.
Water Quality Coordinator Rachel Atz says she knew Bloomington's rising DBP numbers were concerning.
"The data began creeping up in each testing period. We noticed we were getting closer and closer. I had written several memos, I mean, 10, 20, 30 memos regarding the issue over the years," says Atz.
In January of this year, the city took an aggressive, multifaceted approach to combat the DBP levels.
The city is taking monthly samples of DBPs at 8 locations throughout Bloomington, instead of just the quarterly tests that it performed in the past.
Between January and March, the city saw its DBP numbers rise. The increases between January and March were often between 10 and 20 parts per billion.
For a lot of people, the big concern is whether or not Bloomington's water is safe to drink, and according to EPA standards it is.
The warmer weather means DBPs grow more quickly, but with many of the city's new strategies being implemented this month, it is unclear what the numbers will look like when the April measurements arrive.
"I take it very seriously. I take my job seriously. The community's public health seriously, and so, I want to be able to set down with you next month, and show you how much lower we are. I'm cautiously optimistic about sticking that out there before we have the data, but I know we're doing everything we should be doing," says Atz."I'm holding my breath again, but this time, I'm more optimistic about what those results are going to look like."
The results for April's DBP levels are expected in the next 3-6 weeks.
