By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The City of Parsons received a favorable report from the State of West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. A letter was submitted to the Parsons City Council on at their regular meeting.
The letter and report outlined an onsite inspection completed on October 24. In the letter, District Environmental Engineer Craig R. Cobb applauded the City for their efforts. “Your operations staff is doing a great job operating the water system in compliance with the mandates of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA),” Cobb wrote.
The report noted no violations or deficiencies in regards to disinfection, records, operator certifications, turbidity, or safety. The report did comment that the City passed a formal cross-connection ordinance in 2005 and active implementation has been accomplished with all customers being surveyed and eight industrial/commercial customers have BPF assemblies that are tested annually by third party inspectors.
The report did suggest testing for iron, manganese, calcium hardness and TDS. The suggestion further went on to discuss the possibility of weekly testing for the contaminates in both raw and treated water at the facility.
As part of the inspection, the adequacy of the disinfection process was reviewed. A calculation was conducted by the inspector and according to the report, concluded that the facility is providing adequate disinfection at the site. “The calculation indicates that adequate disinfection is being provided,” the report states. The report also stated that staff at the facility discontinued pre-chlorination several years ago to keep contaminates out of the water, “with excellent results,” the report states.
Samples of Raw and Treated Water were also collected as part of the inspection and analyzed for selected contaminates. The report said, “ The attached lab results indicate a generally satisfactory treated water quality for the parameters analyzed.”
The report also included reminders to staff regarding requirements for renewal of licensure and continued education, however, there is nothing in the language of the report to indicate there were any issues with the requirements. The report indicates it was more a matter of professional courtesy.
The report also endorsed the continued removal of sludge from the sedimentation basins on a quarterly basis as well as routine cycling of backup generators on a pre-determined frequency.