Laguna Beach City Council expected to affirm commitment to water quality improvement

LAGUNA BEACH — City officials on Tuesday, Jan. 22, are expected to approve a resolution to increase the city’s vigilance in protecting the ocean from urban runoff.
The City Council will review a resolution that follows guidelines established by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board to improve water quality along Laguna’s coastline by monitoring runoff that comes from inland communities.
To meet the permit requirements, Laguna Beach must adopt regulations to prevent polluted runoff, implement programs that promote architectural features that reduce runoff from new development, inspect existing developments and construction sites for runoff pollution and educate the public on how to reduce runoff.
In June 2018, the water quality control board approved plans by Laguna Beach.
On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to adopt the resolution for stricter regulations and appoint City Manager John Pietig to make sure no one violates the permit.
If you include inland cities run-off, it’s a huge win.
The inland cities are doing a much better job.” Decades of over-fishing diminished much of California’s marine life and prompted a massive effort in the late 1990s to establish a statewide etwork of Marine Protected Areas.
The beaches off Laguna were declared a Marine Protected Area in 2012, the result of efforts of a coalition of local organizations and individuals – collectively the Laguna Bluebelt Coalition – that wanted to restore Laguna’s marine life and habitat.
By 2015, local surfers, stand-up paddle boarders and divers reported an increase in variety of fish, tide pool creatures and kelp along the protected coastline.
Gray, blue and humpback whales are no longer a rarity in the picturesque coves.

NEW: Austin city manager confirms review of water operations in wake of contamination and flooding issues

Austin Water, the city’s public water utility, will undergo a comprehensive review of its operations and actions leading up to last week’s unprecedented citywide boil water notice, according to Austin’s city manager Spencer Cronk.
Following weeks of extended rainfall and flooding in the Central Texas region, Austin Water’s water treatment plants became clogged by the extraordinary amounts of sediment that flushed into the Colorado River, Austin’s sole source of water.
The subsequent inefficiency of the city’s water treatment process led to contaminants remaining in the water and forced officials to issue Austin’s first citywide boil water notice between Oct. 22 and 28.
In a memo issued to the mayor and city council on Sunday, Cronk said on top of continued maintenance, clean up and operational checks, Austin Water will complete a pair of comprehensive reviews that look at necessary next steps and reflect on steps that need to be corrected before another similar emergency occurs.
Cronk said all city and county departments, hospitals, schools and non-profits would participate in the review.
“This is a comprehensive review that will include internal communications, decision-making, resource deployment, emergency procurement, staff coordination and other areas,” he said.
According to the memo, similar reviews were issued following destructive floods in 2013 and 2015.
However, Austin Water will conduct its own review, with help from the Lower Colorado River Authority and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of its handling of the water emergency.
“[Austin Water] will report out its findings and provide recommendations to improve drinking water treatment systems resiliency,” Cronk said in the memo.
“Special emphasis will be placed on identifying action steps that can be taken in the very short term to strengthen the drinking water treatment systems response to raw water upset events of this nature.”

After the boil water notice, the City Manager wants the utlity to put together an in-depth review of operations

Austin’s water is safe to drink again after a week-long boil advisory following all the recent rain, and now City Manager, Spencer Cronk, wants the utility to put together an in-depth review of operations

All Austin Water customers under boil water advisory until further notice

A day after asking Austinites to reduce water usage, the city has issued a boil water advisory for all customers of Austin Water until further notice.
At a televised press conference at 6 a.m. Monday, Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk said Mother Nature has thrown more at the system than the system could take, causing the first-ever boil water advisory for all users of the water system.
Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros said all three of Austin’s drinking water plants are unable to meet desired water clarity levels for customers.
While safe for showers, laundry and other household uses, any water used for consumption should be boiled for three minutes before being used.
The city said all restaurants, food establishments and schools have been notified and inspectors will be available to provide assistance where needed.
Meszaros said the water looks like chocolate milk due to mud kicked up with all of the storm water flowing through the water system, but he doesn’t think it is a bacterial issue at this point.
Residents are asked to continue to restrict water usage where possible, including a ban on watering lawns.

Port St. Joe boil water notice reinstated

With reinstatement of the notice, all of Gulf County is now under a boil water notice.
Safe sources of drinking water include bottled, disinfected or both boiled and cooled water.
Use only safe drinking water.
Drink only commercially available bottled, boiled or disinfected water until your supply is tested and deemed safe.
Otherwise, water should be disinfected or both boiled and cooled before use.
Bringing water to a rolling boil for 1 minute will kill infectious organisms (germs).
Mix the solution and let it stand for 30 minutes.
• Containers for water should be rinsed with a bleach solution of 1 tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water before reusing them.
Do not rely on unverified methods for decontaminating water.
During severe weather and other emergencies, you can count on active alerts from the department’s official social media accounts.

Boil advisory issued for parts of Bristol, Va.

BRISTOL, Va. — UPDATE (9:58 p.m. Monday) According to City Manager Randy Eads, Bristol City Hall will open Tuesday at 10 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. due to the water situation.
Eads said no other city services will be affected.
UPDATE (9:06 p.m. Monday) Bristol, Virginia Public Schools will be closed Tuesday, September 10th due to the water outage and boil notice.
The BVU Authority has issued a boil water notice for customers supplied by BVU’s water distribution system in and around Bristol’s downtown areas.
That includes the areas of State Street, Euclid Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue.
This is a precautionary notice as BVU works to resolve a water main break off Goodson Street.
BVU expects to restore water service to all customers around midnight September 11th.
“BVU personnel are working to repair the water breaks in the safest and most expedient manner possible," explains Christopher Hall, BVU spokesperson.
"This notice is a precautionary measure to protect public health until test results confirm the water remains safe for human consumption."
Complete list of impacted streets: Bluff Street Bob Morrison Blvd Bradley Street Buchanan Street Buford Street Carter Street Clark Street Clinton Ave Commonwealth (from Spurgeon Lan to State Street) Crescent Drive Crockett St Cumberland Street Daniel Street Danville Drive Division Street East State Street (Virginia Side only) Fairmont Ave Fairview Street Floyd Street Gate City Highway (From Bradley Street to Euclid Ave) Highland Avenue James Street Johnson Street King Street Lawerence Ave Lewis Street Lexington Street MLK Jr Boulevard (Maple Street to State Line) Maple Street Meadow Drive Miller Street Moore Street Norfolk Ave (from Mary Street – South to State Line) Park Street Pearl Street (from Arlington Ave to State Line) Peter Street Piedmont Ave Prince Street Randolph Street Russell Street Scott Street Seward Avenue Short Street Solar Street Spencer Street Sullins Street Sycamore Street Virginia Street Wagner Road (South of Bradley Street) Wagner Alley Washington Street West State Street (Virginia Side Only) Williams Street Winston Alley Winston Street

Boil water advisory

A boil water advisory for the Town of Kingstree was issued Thursday after one home in Kingstree failed a water sample test.
According to Town manager Richard Treme a normal test included sample testing of random taps.
When the home’s sample failed, five homes to the left and five to the right were tested and both taps passed.
Treme said at that time they notified the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
"As I understand it doesn’t take much to contaminate what you pull," said Treme.
"We do not believe that there is anything wrong, however, we consulted DEHC and they said close the system down and re-run it according to protocol.
Residents/customers should continue to vigorously boil their water for at least one full minute prior to drinking or cooking until otherwise notified by DEHC.
Also, any ice made from the water that has not been boiled should not be used for drinking purposes.
If you should have any questions concerning this notice, you may call the Department’s Bureau of Water at (803) 898-4300 or the Pee Dee-Myrtle Beach Office at (843) 238-4378.
Owner/System Representative Carla Pack contact information (843) 355-7484, cpack@kingstree.org

Dundee’s drinking water above EPA contamination levels

City Official: “There’s no health threat.
There’s no reason to boil your water.” DUNDEE — Town officials say high contaminant levels in drinking water are nothing that residents should worry about.
For samples collected between January and March, the town of Dundee’s two water plants showed levels for trihalomethanes (TTHMs) to be over the maximum set by the state, according to a task order from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
According to the Florida Department of Health, cancer risks are calculated as lifetime risks associated with drinking two liters per day over 70 years.
Per the consent order, the issue must be fixed within two years.
“What we’re thinking is it’s a source water issue,” Ware said.
We won’t know that for sure until the research comes back.” Bernard, who previously worked in Haines City, said this problem isn’t new to the area — only to Dundee.
“It’s new to Dundee, but something we have to fix and something that can be fixed,” he said.
Once water is pumped from the Florida Aquifer through the town’s water system, it is treated with sodium hypochlorite, which forms the contaminants.
“The natural organics need the chlorine to form, but we need the chlorine to disinfect.” Mike Ferguson can be reached at Mike.Ferguson@theledger.com or 863-802-7545.

Boil water advisory lifted in Frankenmuth

FRANKENMUTH (WJRT) – (09/04/18) – A four day boil water advisory impacting the north end of Frankenmuth has been lifted.
It was put in place Friday around noon after an issue popped up after switching from an old transmission main to a new one.
City Manager Bridget Smith said as crews made the switch there was also a water main break.
"We didn’t think it was contaminated, and we found out today there was no bacteria in the samples, but, you know you just don’t feel right telling people to drink dirty water," Smith said.
Smith said the city will investigate whether the sediment in the new transmission main was the result of the construction process.
It delivers water from the city of Saginaw to the city of Frankenmuth.
Frankentmuh officially lifted the boil water advisory Tuesday after the second round of testing came back clean, and city leaders checked with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Smith said they did not plan to make the switch right before Labor Day.
"Our first chlorine samples took an extra week to clear, so ideally we would have made this connection almost two weeks ago.
And then we had three or four days of heavy rain, which also put us off."

Boil water advisory issued for Montrose

MONTROSE, Mich. –Montrose is under a boil water advisory until further notice.
City officials say the system lost pressure around 1 a.m. Monday.
If you live in Montrose, you should boil your water before drinking it.
We’ll be sure to update you when the advisory is lifted.