City of Bloomington Officials Report December 2016 Disinfectant Byproduct Levels

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2017

For more information, please contact: Vic Kelson, City of Bloomington Utilities Director, 812-349-3650, kelsonv@bloomington.in.gov

City of Bloomington Officials Report December 2016 Disinfectant Byproduct Levels

Bloomington, Ind. - The monthly disinfection byproduct (DBP) test results for December have been released, and show a steep decline from November, with the contaminant levels at the end of the year continuing to be lower than those of 2015.

According to Utilities Director Vic Kelson, "December DBP values are the lowest systemwide average values since we began our systematic measurement program in March 2003. We expect DBP concentrations to rise again when warm weather comes, but we will continue to work diligently to optimize our water treatment process and provide a safe and reliable water supply."

For December 2016, the most recent month, findings revealed the concentration of haloacetic acid (HAA5) levels at the eight testing sites ranged from 13.0 parts per billion (ppb) to 14.8 ppb and the trihalomethane (THM) levels were between 20.1 and 24.5 ppb. In November 2016, results indicated the concentration of HAA5 ranged from 18.7 ppb to 22.7 ppb, and the THM levels were between 28.8 ppb and 34.2 ppb.

Regarding the report, Mayor John Hamilton said, "I continue to be proud of the good work all our CBU employees are doing to assure Bloomington residents and customers enjoy healthy and sustainable water supplies."

Monthly water testing was initiated in January 2016 in an effort to better track water quality, specifically DBPs. Over the twelve month period, no individual sample has exceeded the maximum contaminant level (MCL). In 2015, while there were no violations of the annual average standards, 8 of the 32 samples taken in the distribution system individually exceeded the THM standard and 12 of 32 exceeded the HAA5 standard. The graphs below show recent 2016 results in comparison to prior years.

Testing of CBU water is conducted by a private, independent laboratory. All water quality test results are available online at data.bloomington.in.gov under "Utilities."

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