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Kline confirms Lititz water is safe to drink
By Lititz Record
Lititz Record Express
Published: May 01, 2008 10:33 AM EST
Lititz -
On April 26, the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal reported "new and routine
tests are pointing to increasing health threats in raw water (in
Lititz)."
The article went on to report, "unexpected signs of an E.
coli problem appeared in December."
Following that report, the
Lititz Record Express contacted Carl Kline of Severn Trent, the firm that
operates Lititz's waste water treatment plant. Kline addressed the E. coli
report in the following Q&A.
Record Express: Where exactly was
E. coli found, when and by whom?
Kline: "E. coli are organisms found
in untreated water that indicate some level of contamination. I would
expect to find them in most every water source, particularly those drawing
from surface water or under the direct influence of surface water, such as
Lititz. As expected, they were found during analyses to comply with the
Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2).
"(The
Intelligencer Journal report) has unintentionally shown that Lititz' E.
coli levels are beneath the trigger level of an annual mean of 50 E.
coli/100ml. If the analyses results prove consistent throughout the
remainder of our 12 month test period, we will not be required to perform
the very expensive Cryptosporidium monitoring. The next round of testing is
required in six years.
Record Express: Does this pose a public
health problem?
Kline: "There is no health risk.
"Water
treatment plants utilize various methods of disinfection to kill bacteria
found in the raw water. Lititz uses chlorine and maintains sufficient
chlorine residual in the distribution system to prevent re-growth of
bacteria. This is confirmed every month when an independent laboratory
collects and analyzes 10 samples throughout Lititz for total coliform. The
results of these analyses are reported to DEP electronically by the lab and
posted on the DEP Web site."
Record Express: What is being done
about this E. coli situation, and who is doing it?
Kline: "The
protection of our drinking water supply is much greater than simply
addressing E. coli. A Wellhead Protection Plan was approved by DEP in 2002
for both the Lititz Borough and Warwick Township water supplies. The
Wellhead Protection Task Force includes representatives from all areas of
the community with significant expertise in protecting our drinking water
supply from various potential contamination sources.
"We can be
grateful to have such conscientious farmers in our Wellhead Areas. I would
particularly like to thank our agri-businesses such as Kreider Farms and
Dale Rohrer for their commitment to protecting our water source. This is
evidenced to some extent by the fact that our raw water nitrate levels have
decreased since the early 1990s when the borough installed the nitrate
removal system to meet the regulatory limit of 10 mg/l."
Record
Express: Will there be an update on the situation at some
point?
Kline: "The results of our 12 month monitoring will be
reported at the Lititz Borough Council meeting after all results have been
received and analyzed. This will probably occur in early
2009.
Record Express: Is there any reason for Lititz water customers
to refrain from drinking public water?
Kline: Absolutely none! The
Lititz water system continues to meet all State and Federal
regulations.
The following is a link to the EPA fact sheet for
Lititz's monitoring requirements:
http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/disinfection/lt2/pdfs/f...
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