Water Precaution Measures
Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2005
Update: 7:50 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25
About 2:30 a.m. this morning, the City of Phoenix learned that water leaving its Val Vista plant is violating some federal standards. This was caused by the increase of mud, sludge and other particulates in the water run-off from recent storms.
The health and safety of our customers is our number one priority. And our water engineers have assured us that the risk of contamination is low. But in order to be extra cautious, we are asking Phoenix residents to boil their water or use bottled water until noon Wednesday, Jan. 26.
This includes any water used for drinking, brushing teeth, food preparation, making ice cubes, and washing dishes. Residents can feel comfortable in showering in the water.
We also are asking residents to conserve water by taking short showers and not watering their lawns as the city continues to refill its reservoirs with clean water.
We also are working with all schools and have asked them to turn off their drinking fountains until further notice and boil their water, too. We are working with hospitals, the construction industry and many other agencies.
Phoenix has five water treatment plants. Two of them currently are out of service because SRP is cleaning the canals, which is a normal occurrence this time of year. Another plant is out of service because of the recent storms. This leaves two plants that are operational and providing water to Phoenix residents, which are normally enough to provide water that is needed by our residents this time of year.
If residents have any questions, they can call 602-262-6251 or visit phoenix.gov.
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The city of Phoenix has issued a boiling water advisory for consumers to not drink the water from their tap without boiling it first. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and all food preparation until further notice. The boil water advisory is a result of turbidity coming into the water treatment plant from recent storms.
Turbidity is a measure of cloudiness in the water. Abnormally dry conditions over a long period of time before above-average rainfall in a short period of time resulted in heavier than normal sediment flowing downstream and into the City of Phoenix ’s Water Treatment Plants.
The increased sediment caused one of the city’s water treatment plants to produce only one-tenth of its normal capacity while another plant operates at full capacity. A third plant was recently closed due to storm damage, and the two other plants are shut down for maintenance, which is a usual occurrence this time of year.
Q: Who’s responsible for this situation?
A: Mother Nature is probably the only person the city can point a finger at this time. As you know, the area has had several years of below-normal rainfall, which creates very dry conditions, followed by a few months of way above-average rainfall. The ground soaks up what it can, but this type of situation creates lots of sediment in the runoff.
Q: What is the city doing to rectify the situation?
A: The city has done a number of things so far. Each water treatment plant continuously monitors turbidity levels, and a measure is recorded every five minutes. When turbidity levels exceed the amount allowed by federal guidelines, the city notifies Maricopa County Environmental Services Department and increases the level of chlorine in the treatment process. The city also is diluting the muddy water with other water sources.
Advance treatment is being conducted to reduce the sediment in the water. Lime is being added to the treatment process, which helps increase the efficiency of the treatment process. The sediment attaches to the Lime and allows it to sink to the bottom to keep the sediment from going into the plant and to our customers.
Q: Aren’t the filters doing their job?
A: The city's treatment plant filters are designed for a certain amount of sediment in the surface water. Because of the recent storms, the amount of sediment coming into the treatment plant is more than our filters are designed to handle.
Q: Didn’t you expect something like this to happen?
A: Yes, the city did anticipate and plan for increased sediment from the recent storms. However, the city did not expect this amount of sediment coming into our system.
Q: It’s been several weeks since all the storms hit. Why did it take so long for the sediment to show up in your system?
A: Actually, this is about the time the city expected to see increased levels in sediment because it takes the water that long to flow downstream and into its system.
