IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER

Midland Water Association 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 October showed that 11% of turbidity measurements exceeded 0.3 NTU, November samples showed that 45% exceeded 0.3 NTU, and December samples showed that 50% exceeded 0.3 NTU. The standard is that no more than 5% of samples may exceed .30 turbidity units per month. The turbidity units were relatively low. However, their persistence is a concern. Normal turbidity levels at our plant are .08 NTU.

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. As happens in the fall, heavy rains caused high turbidity in the creek. Our filter cannot process the volume of turbidity present during storms. Once the spring flow volume increased in mid-December, we were able to close the creek valve and rely on the springs, which are much more stable.

For more information, please contact Melanie Hudson at 503-709-7801 or P.O. Box 922, Clatskanie, OR 97016.

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.