Adelanto contractor incompletely monitored drinking water (April 7, 2017)
“Rest assured the water isn’t contaminated from the source,” Nespeca said, adding that when one sample tests positive of nine or 10 taken, officials are “99.9 percent sure it’s the sample collection process that failed.”
ADELANTO — The city’s water system contractor didn’t properly test for contaminants during two months last year in violation of state regulations. By failing to do so, the contractor could not guarantee water quality.
But a top official with PERC Water, which also operates Adelanto’s wastewater facility, insisted Thursday “the water in Adelanto is fine” even as he acknowledged the water sampling process had failed.
“We fully understand we took the hit on that,” PERC Vice President Bob Nespeca said by phone.
What happened: In November and December, there were positive tests for Total Coliform (TC), a group of related bacteria that are usually not harmful to humans. In both instances, officials re-tested water from the original site, but did not obtain repeat samples from upstream or downstream sites as required by the state.
Tests repeated at the original sample site showed negative results for TC, officials said.
“Rest assured the water isn’t contaminated from the source,” Nespeca said, adding that when one sample tests positive of nine or 10 taken, officials are “99.9 percent sure it’s the sample collection process that failed.”
In a letter informing ratepayers of the two positive tests and improper re-sampling, PERC officials said an investigation “found that there was no risk to public health.”
PERC officials collect about 960 samples a year from the city’s water system to test for contaminants, Nespeca said, but a lack of formal sampling stations has been a hurdle and potentially contributes to positive tests.
In an effort to alleviate further issues, the city authorized the installation of 30 true sampling stations: half-inch stainless steel vertical pipes resembling a faucet that are easy to sanitize.
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Residents, particularly on the city’s north side, have raised concerns about water quality in the past at Council meetings, criticizing leaks in streets and the water being discolored.
Nespeca pointed to aging infrastructure and the city’s sole reliance on groundwater wells, which inherently pull sand into lines that the city’s filtration system can’t always entirely distill.
“It’s not in anyway harmful, but it is disturbing,” he said. “We do our best to flush it.”
In fact, the north side lines are flushed two to three times as often as any other portion of Adelanto, he added. But flushing itself can often be problematic when residents use water during maintenance times and find sediment pulled into the system.
“That’s why we go to great lengths to notify residents” about flushing hours, he said.
Nespeca said he plans to attend next Wednesday’s Council meeting in an effort to explain the recent monitoring violations to city leaders and residents.
For more information, contact PERC Water Superintendent Victor Reid at 760-987-4655.
Source: Shea Johnson, Daily Press