The Water Safety Myth
July 11, 2008
Let me start by saying how lucky I think we are to have someone of Bill Lewis' caliber working for the City of Yuba City. I have been continually impressed with him as I have worked on the Hillcrest water issue.
Myth: Some opponents to conversion are trying to question the quality of Yuba City's surface water by raising the issue that there are cities upstream that release their wastewater into the Feather River. Here is my question to Mr. Lewis along with his response.
Question: We are hearing more noise from people who are talking about the quality of water from the Feather River and relating it to the number of people upstream that have flushed toilets.
How many Hillcrest Water connections?
How many Hillcrest Customers connected to City Sewer?
Is the difference the number of Hillcrest customers on septic tanks?
How much effluent does the typical house produce each day?
Truth: The Feather River is considered to be high quality water - some of the best in the state. There is only so much fresh water on the planet and it is used over and over - the 4th grade water cycle diagram. When I was in college I had to calculate how many molecules of Julius Caesar urine I drink every day - it was quite a few as I recall. The point I am trying to make is that water plants are designed to remove contaminates from the source water and protect human health. This is why we have so few water borne diseases in the US.
Getting more directly to the questions: The City of Oroville discharges tertiary treated wastewater to the Feather River. There is significant dilution in the Feather River and they have a tertiary (filtered water) treatment plant. The YC water plant regularly monitors for indicators of biological contamination - an indicator of this type of contamination from any mammal is called Cryptosporidium - we have never found one Cryptosporidium bacteria in the raw untreated Feather River water. The new membranes installed at the water plant have holes in them to filter water that are much smaller than bacteria - the bacteria physically do not fit. It is the most modern level of treatment that can be installed.
There are about 4000 groundwater connections - of those about 1500 are on a sewer system - the rest are on septic. A typical household will generate 245 gallons per day of wastewater. Wells in the area that are failing nitrate testing is primarily due to septic tank contamination. Some will say it is due to farm activities, but that is not my opinion due to the higher nitrates in urban areas than in rural areas. The nitrates in urban areas can also come from homeowners over fertilizing their property.
The Feather River is such a large river that it would take a great deal of contamination to decrease its water quality. All water - both surface and groundwater is being contaminated as it falls through the sky as rain or snow. As it flows in streams and rivers, as it soaks into the ground from agricultural uses, rice fields, homeowner pesticides and septic tanks, leaking underground gas tanks. Groundwater also moves - it is not stagnant.
It is all of our jobs to be the best steward of the environment we can. There is a false perception that just because it comes from the ground that is safer - that is just not the case.
Let me start by saying how lucky I think we are to have someone of Bill Lewis' caliber working for the City of Yuba City. I have been continually impressed with him as I have worked on the Hillcrest water issue.
Myth: Some opponents to conversion are trying to question the quality of Yuba City's surface water by raising the issue that there are cities upstream that release their wastewater into the Feather River. Here is my question to Mr. Lewis along with his response.
Question: We are hearing more noise from people who are talking about the quality of water from the Feather River and relating it to the number of people upstream that have flushed toilets.
How many Hillcrest Water connections?
How many Hillcrest Customers connected to City Sewer?
Is the difference the number of Hillcrest customers on septic tanks?
How much effluent does the typical house produce each day?
Truth: The Feather River is considered to be high quality water - some of the best in the state. There is only so much fresh water on the planet and it is used over and over - the 4th grade water cycle diagram. When I was in college I had to calculate how many molecules of Julius Caesar urine I drink every day - it was quite a few as I recall. The point I am trying to make is that water plants are designed to remove contaminates from the source water and protect human health. This is why we have so few water borne diseases in the US.
Getting more directly to the questions: The City of Oroville discharges tertiary treated wastewater to the Feather River. There is significant dilution in the Feather River and they have a tertiary (filtered water) treatment plant. The YC water plant regularly monitors for indicators of biological contamination - an indicator of this type of contamination from any mammal is called Cryptosporidium - we have never found one Cryptosporidium bacteria in the raw untreated Feather River water. The new membranes installed at the water plant have holes in them to filter water that are much smaller than bacteria - the bacteria physically do not fit. It is the most modern level of treatment that can be installed.
There are about 4000 groundwater connections - of those about 1500 are on a sewer system - the rest are on septic. A typical household will generate 245 gallons per day of wastewater. Wells in the area that are failing nitrate testing is primarily due to septic tank contamination. Some will say it is due to farm activities, but that is not my opinion due to the higher nitrates in urban areas than in rural areas. The nitrates in urban areas can also come from homeowners over fertilizing their property.
The Feather River is such a large river that it would take a great deal of contamination to decrease its water quality. All water - both surface and groundwater is being contaminated as it falls through the sky as rain or snow. As it flows in streams and rivers, as it soaks into the ground from agricultural uses, rice fields, homeowner pesticides and septic tanks, leaking underground gas tanks. Groundwater also moves - it is not stagnant.
It is all of our jobs to be the best steward of the environment we can. There is a false perception that just because it comes from the ground that is safer - that is just not the case.