2019-05-01 Notice of Violation LetterRo
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CITY Of BLAIQ
CITY OF BLAIR
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER
NOTICE OF VIOLATION
The City of Blair Water System recently was in violation of drinking water standards, and as our
customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we did to
correct the situation.
Description of Violation — The City of Blair Exceeded Monthly Turbidity Limits
We routinely monitor your water for turbidity (cloudiness). This tells us whether we are effectively
filtering the water supply. Water samples from March of this year showed that 20 percent of
turbidity measurements were over 0.3 turbidity units. The regulatory standard is for no more than
5 percent of samples to exceed 0.3 turbidity units per month. The high turbidity was caused by
flooding of the Missouri River.
Description of Violation - The City of Blair Did Not Meet Disinfection Treatment/Contact
Time Monitoring Requirements and Failed to Provide Adequate Notice to the State or Public
In order to ensure that water is adequately disinfected, water in a treatment plant must be in contact
with chlorine or a similar disinfectant for a minimum amount of time. Although chlorine quickly
kills most bacteria, it takes more contact_ time to be effective against organisms such as viruses and
parasites.
The City of Blair did not provide disinfection treatment or adequate disinfectant contact time to
the system's drinking water March 14-15, 2019, and we did not notify the state or the public about
failing to provide adequate disinfection treatment as required.
What does this mean?
Water quality may have been impacted by high turbidity and the lack of disinfection treatment or
adequate contact time during March 14-15, 2019. The water provided during that time may have
contained disease -causing organisms. These organisms may include bacteria, viruses, and/or
parasites, and when ingested in drinking water, may cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, and
diarrhea. Young children and the elderly are typically more susceptible. It should be noted
however, that these symptoms are not caused only by organisms in drinking water but can be
caused by other factors.
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218 South 16th Street • Blair, Nebraska 68008 • 402-426-4191 • Fax 402-426-4195 • E-mail cityofblair@ci,blaicne.us "Y
What Corrective Actions Were Taken?
The problems encountered with treating the source water were directly related to the Missouri
River flooding and resulting very high turbidity. Now that the river flooding has subsided, and the
river water turbidity has returned to a more normal range we are able to effectively treat the river
water to a standard that does not exceed the limits set for our water treatment plant. The City is
reviewing their operations to see if there are additional actions the City can take in future events
to lessen the impact to the water treatment plant of very high turbidity in the Missouri River water.
What Does This Mean?
This situation does not require that you take immediate action. If it had required
immediate action, you would have been notified immediately.
None of our testing has shown disease -causing organisms in the drinking water.
What should I do?
• You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions.
• You may want to consult with a physician if you have experienced persistent symptoms of
nausea, cramping, or diarrhea since March 15, 2019.
For more information, please contact Al Schoemaker with the City of Blair, at (402) 426-
4191 or at arses lairneraska.or.
Please share this information with all the others who may not have received this notice directly
(Ex. 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 City of Blair, Nebraska Water System Number NE3117905.
Date Mailed May 1, 2019