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Page last updated on June 15, 2017 at 2:46 pm

For more information, please contact

Vic Kelson, City of Bloomington Utilities Director, 812-349-3650, kelsonv@bloomington.in.gov

City of Bloomington Officials Report Decline In Disinfectant Byproduct Levels

Bloomington, Ind. — The monthly disinfection byproduct (DBP) test results for May have been released and DBP concentrations remain low when compared to values from years past.

For May 2017, the measured concentration of haloacetic acid (HAA5) levels at the eight testing sites ranged from 18.1 ppb to 21.8 ppb and the total trihalomethane (TTHM) levels were between 31.5 ppb and 35.2 ppb. The highest recent results were in February 2017, when results indicated HAA5 concentrations from 56.4 ppb to 75.9 ppb, and TTHM levels between 51.4 ppb to 53.6 ppb. The attached graphs show how concentrations have changed over time.

Monthly water testing was initiated in January 2016 in an effort to better track water quality, specifically DBPs. Staff at City of Bloomington Utilities monitor the monthly water samples and adjust treatment procedures each month to optimize the process.

The procedure change with the most significant impact occurred in the spring of 2016, when the treatment process at the Monroe Plant was adjusted to remove chlorine disinfectant from the treatment basins, adding it later in the process. However, each month the source water in Monroe Lake is affected by changes such as temperature and precipitation. Utilities Director Vic Kelson said, “We are pleased with the DBP results we’ve achieved in the last year, and are in the process of a comprehensive study of our treatment process in an effort to improve water quality even further.”

Regarding the report, Mayor John Hamilton said, “The quality of the water we provide to the residents of Monroe County continues to be a primary focus for our Utilities Department. We are encouraged by the process improvements and the resulting overall quality improvement we are seeing in the monthly water testing results.”

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.”