Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 30, 2008
4. Water Quality –
Water firms clash over chloramines
Antelope Valley
Fontana
Riverside Press Enterprise- 7/29/08
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Water firms clash over chloramines
Antelope Valley
By Alisha Semchuck, Staff Writer
PALMDALE - Do chloramines, when used as a disinfectant to treat drinking water, pose a health risk? Some people say "no problem" and others shout, "beware."
Ever since the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency began revamping its four water treatment plants last year to prepare for the conversion from chlorine to chloramines, the change has fueled some heated discussions.
AVEK supplies California Aqueduct water to farmers and to municipal and industrial customers, including Los Angeles County Waterworks District 40, the Quartz Hill Water District, Palm Ranch Irrigation District and Rosamond Community Services District.
AVEK planned the switch for its treatment plants in Quartz Hill,
But some people on a system that uses chloraminated water complained that they developed respiratory problems, skin rashes and irritation of the eyes and nose.
"We don't know how many people can be affected," Kathy Spoor, vice president of the Rosamond Community Services District board, told AVEK administrators during a meeting in early June.
Spoor has been outspoken in her opposition to chloramines. She told the AVEK board she was not speaking in her capacity as an elected official but rather "as a private citizen, a friend and a neighbor."
She shared with the board members reports she gathered from the World Health Organization that describe chloramines as less effective than chlorine in killing off E. coli and rotavirus, which can cause diarrhea, vomiting and fever that can lead to dehydration. It's potentially deadly for infants and toddlers, the reports noted.
"Chloramine leaches lead out of galvanized pipes," Spoor said. She described chloramine as a "very aggressive" compound.
With those concerns, officials from Rosamond Services District refused to accept water treated with chloramines and asked that AVEK deliver untreated water to them. Officials of Waterworks District 40 took a different stance: they stated their willingness to go along with the conversion plans.
Adam Ariki, division chief for the
"Chloramines have been in use 100 years," Ariki said. "There's tons of literature on the Web. It's a disinfectant that lasts longer" than chlorine. "It complies with EPA standards. To cite incidents of lead and copper we have to be cautious. It's critical to keep that in perspective."
Based on AVEK's decision to switch to chloramines, Ariki said Waterworks 40 retrofitted 18 wells in the
Because AVEK is converting to chloramines, a compound derived by mixing ammonia with chlorine, AVEK's customers that blend aqueduct water with well water also must switch the system they use to disinfect the well water.
They must convert to chloramines in order to keep the proper ratio of ammonia to chlorine.
Officials from some of the smaller water providers like Quartz Hill Water District said that switch imposes a financial burden on them.
Some community members suggested using granular-activated carbon to filter out the organic material from the water and prevent the formation of THMs, rather than using chloramines. That process was adopted by the Palmdale Water District.
"The thoughtful thing to do is talk about this," Ariki said. "It's critical for us to have AVEK continue the path (they) have already selected. If the community is willing to absorb the cost, then we can go with GAC," the granular-activated carbon.
Nobody really wanted to switch to chloramines, but at the same time everybody wanted to keep costs down, according to Michael Flood, an AVEK engineer.
"Folks said, 'We want the least expensive alternative,' " Flood said. "That was chloramines."
He recalled meeting with various AVEK customers beginning in spring 2005 to discuss the conversion plans.
"Rosamond didn't want chloramines at that time," Flood said. "To them it was a cost issue. I don't remember anything else. They felt to convert their wells was going to be cost prohibitive. I don't recall anyone bringing up health concerns at the time," Flood pointed out. That's my recollection of the meetings. One (Rosamond) director was concerned with degradation of rubber in the treatment plant."
That problem no longer exists, Flood said, because manufacturers of that equipment have created a rubber product that withstands chloramines.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California "has been using chloramines as long as I have been with waterworks," Ariki said.
The
http://www.avpress.com/n/29/0729_s3.hts
Fontana
Riverside Press Enterprise- 7/29/08
The city of
Officials from Fontana Water Company have been in talks with city leaders, hoping the two could team up on the project, which would make recycled water available for the first time in
That's a particularly high priority in the wake of Gov. Schwarzenegger's proclamation last month that
While an overall price tag for the project still has not been determined, the City Council last week authorized its staff to seek $5.2 million in grants to help pay for the city's portion.
If completed, recycled water would be provided to an area of southern
City leaders also proposed that
"It's not suitable for drinking water, but it's suitable for landscaping purposes," said City Manager Ken Hunt.
"Right now, in some areas of town, we're paying $750 per acre-foot for potable water," Hunt said.
The city could purchase recycled water for $63 per an acre-foot to irrigate its parks and landscaping.
The savings in dollars and water would be widespread and significant, since many neighborhoods around
"We're watering the median on
Even factoring in the costs of building and installing the pipelines, the city still could significantly cut the amount of money it spends purchasing drinking water, he said.
Last month, Schwarzenegger also signed an executive order that encourages water agencies to enact conservation measures that will reduce water consumption.
Fontana Water Company wants to be the utility that distributes that recycled water. It would flow through purple pipelines to distinguish it from the pipes that bring drinking water to the 45,000 households and businesses -- most of them within
"We want to partner with the city in order to seek grants and funding to put in the infrastructure to served recycled water," said Michael McGraw, general manager of Fontana Water Company.
He estimated "hundreds of miles" of pipelines would have to be installed to distribute recycled water to public landscaping citywide.
"The city has indicated that they would like to be the owner of the pipelines and lease them to us," McGraw said.
Fontana Water officials also told city leaders that the utility is willing to apply for state and federal construction grants, but that their request might have a better chance of getting approved if the two sides teamed up.
"We thought it would be a good idea (to submit) a joint application. We thought that it would carry more weight with the State Water Resources Control Board," McGraw said.
"We're hopeful that we're going to reach an agreement with the city on putting this valuable resource to use soon. It's more critical now than ever," McGraw said.#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/sbcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_N_nrecycle30.49edd60.html
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