Public Notice

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER

Midland Water Did Not Meet Treatment Requirements

Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this was not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we did to correct this situation.

We routinely monitor your water for turbidity (cloudiness). This tells us whether we are effectively filtering the water supply. Water samples for August showed that 37% of measurements exceeded .3 NTU, while the standard allows no more than 5% to exceed .3 NTU per month.

What should I do?

• You do not need to boil your water or take other actions. We do not know of any contamination, and none of our testing has shown disease-causing organisms in the drinking water.
• People with severely compromised immune systems, infants, and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA, Safe Drinking Water Hotline at (800) 426-4791 or the Department of Human Services Drinking Water Program at (971) 673-0405.

What does this mean?

Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. These symptoms are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice.

What happened? What was done?

A problem occurred with the treatment system at the water plant. In late July, we noticed an increase in turbidity in the water leaving the filter. After days of investigation and assistance from the Oregon Association of Water Utilities, we discovered that the readings were inaccurate due to organic buildup on the inside of our turbidity sensor. The buildup caused the instrument to display higher readings than the actual turbidity of the water. Once the sensor was cleaned and recalibrated, results immediately returned to normal levels, confirming that the water leaving the plant was consistently clear and safe. The issue was related to instrument fouling – there was no change in actual water quality and no risk to public health. To prevent recurrence, we have added regular inspections and cleaning of the turbidity sensor and installed a check valve on the polymer feed line to ensure consistent chemical dosing during treatment.

For more information, please contact Melanie Hudson at 503-709-7801 or P.O. Box 922.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

This notice is being sent to you by Midland Water Association. State Water System ID#: 41-01139.  Date distributed: 11/11/25