Cleaning of the water starts here at Bloomington's water treatment center.
(Clayton Baumgarth - WFIU/WTIU)
People are understandably on-edge about toxins.
In the last few months, Americans have contended with multiple toxic spills and burns, including the cleanup and removal of those hazardous wastes to neighboring states.
And a heavily contested scheduled burn and logging project in Hoosier National Forest has people concerned for the sustained water quality of the lake.
So how is Lake Monroe, the sole drinking source for over 128,000 citizens, protected from toxins?
Holly McLauchlin with the City of Bloomington Utilities said that something to consider is that Lake Monroe isn’t surrounded by heavy industrial polluters.
“The water is relatively clean to start with,” she said. “And then we have our water operators here 24/7, 365 that are constantly testing the water and tweaking our treatment to make sure that it's optimal for whatever is coming in from the lake that day.”
McLauchlin gave a tour of the water works facility and said they treat the water in three different ways. First, they physically remove any debris from the water.
“We use bar screens, weirs, different types of media like sand and gravel, really ancient technology to get that stuff out of the water,” she said.
The chemical Alum is also added during this step to clump physical materials together, which is later scooped out and disposed.
After alum is added, it causes solids to clump together into this foamy looking muck. (Clayton Baumgarth WFIU/WTIU)
Next, they take biological contaminants like E. coli out of the equation using chlorine. Fluoride is also added to the water to prevent tooth decay.
Then finally they add another chemical to create chloramine, which protects the water from getting pipe materials in it while also disinfecting the water.
Through these steps, and most importantly 24/7 monitoring and tweaking by water works staff, the city says the water is kept safe for drinking and general use.
Physical debris is filtered out further through the use of sand, rocks, and these metal wiers. (Clayton Baumgarth WFIU/WTIU)
But who protects the actual lake? According to Sherry Mitchell-Bruker, President of Friends of Lake Monroe, the city doesn’t manage the lake. They are permitted to use the lake through the US Army Corp of Engineers, the people who created the lake in the 60’s.
“There's no one person or organization that can protect the lake,” she said. “It's up to our entire community. Activities on farms, forest, roads, commercial properties, private properties, all of these activities have potential to degrade water quality in the lake.”
Her organization is focused on protecting the lake and has developed the Monroe Watershed Management Plan to improve water quality over the next 20 years.
In this room, chlorine is added to the water. These tanks are currently being cleaned out. (Clayton Baumgarth WFIU/WTIU)
And while the City of Bloomington will always work hard to treat the water, Mitchell-Bruker said that the real solution lies in protecting the drinking water at its source.
“It's just way better to solve the problem at the source rather than trying to add a bunch of chemicals,” she said. “And every time you add a new chemical, then there's another reaction that you have to take care of. All of that comes at cost financially too.”
One of the challenges her organization often runs into is pulling together all the different groups that have a say in what happens to protect the lake.
“All of the federal agencies, the Corps of Engineers, and the Hoosier National Forest, they do have a responsibility to protect water quality, but then so does the state, and so does the county,” she said. “So it's very easy to say, ‘oh, it's their responsibility’.”
Friends of Lake Monroe is one of the primary groups that sued the Forest Service over concerns that their controlled burn in Hoosier National Forest would affect water quality.
“We're also encouraging local lawmakers to petition the Hoosier National Forest to set aside the Lake Monroe watershed as an area that has as restricted activities and to improve water quality,” she said.
They also work on sponsoring trash cleanups, and through a partnership with Sassafras Audubon Society, take underserved youth on kayak trips on the lake.
“We hope that will inspire them to take action to protect the lake,” she said.
