Facts and Figures

Secondary Contaminants

Refer to the EPA's National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations and the DOH's "Secondary Contaminant Treatment Requirements and Options". Information about "Hydrogen Sulfide in Household Water" from the National Ag Safety Database of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site.

The "experts" basically say the same thing about iron and manganese.

For more information on this subject, refer to "Color, Taste and Odor Problems in Drinking Water" published by the DOH.

McCleary's Water System

• The City cannot draw unlimited water from the Wildcat Creek Aquifer because of Water Rights. According to an Issue Paper available on the Chehalis River Council web site, McCleary's Annual Demand was 250.0 acre-feet in 2002. McCleary's Water Rights at that time was 1,633.0 acre-feet.
• Flushing hydrants helps circulate the water and reduces odor problems in dead end locations. "Looping the City's water system offers two major benefits. Increased ability to deliver the water and reduction of the system odor problem by increase system circulation. Typically the water odor increases in lines that are 'dead-end' and that are not in frequent use. Periodic hydrant flushing is a method for the City to help further reduce the odor problem. But the trade off for flushings is that we then use more of our water right. Hydrant flushing (at a minimum annually) is a part of normal system maintenance." [2]
• The minimum water bill is for 1,000 cubic feet, a quantity of water few people use.
• According to the City of McCleary's engineer, "... the 1997 system maps are little more than lines of different color drawn on top of an assessor's map base. ...these maps do not represent the true location of the water main and did not include the important system infrastructure like water valves, hydrants, etc. " [2]

Definitions

• Coliform is a specific class of bacteria found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. The presence of coliform in water indicates that the water is polluted and may contain disease-causing (pathogenic) microorganisms.
• There is a difference between groundwater and surface water. Groundwater is the water beneath the surface that can be collected with wells, tunnels, or drainage galleries, or that flows naturally to the earth's surface via seeps or springs. Groundwater is the water that is pumped by wells and flows out through springs. Surface water sits or flows above the earth, including lakes, oceans, rivers, and streams.
• Water Rights refers to a legal system for allocating water from a water source to water users. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious. In other areas, especially arid areas where irrigation is practiced, such systems are often the source of conflict, both legal and physical. Some systems treat surface and sub-surface water in the same manner, while others use different principals for each. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_rights

References

[2] Cole Elliott, Parametrix, Inc., City of McCleary's engineering firm, 3/8/2006 email to author.