Residents in the small town of Bruni in Webb County are being cautioned of a health concern regarding their drinking water.
Earlier this month, Bruni Rural Water Supply Corporation notified the public that the water supplied to customers had exceeded the Maximum Contaminant Level for arsenic.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the MCL for arsenic is 0.010 mg/L and Bruni’s drinking water indicated an arsenic level of 0.076 mg/L.
READ ALSO: New study reveals tap water contamination levels in Laredo, South Texas The analysis of Bruni’s water supply was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2017 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
BRWSC said in a notice to the community that it’s not an emergency and residents do not need to use an alternative water supply.
Most people are exposed to inorganic arsenic through drinking water as these compounds are found in soils, sediments and groundwater.
The water company is working with Norris Leal Engineering Water and have completed the pilot phase of the microfiltration system.
The two companies are working to prepare final plans and specifications for improvements and related operational criteria.
For more information, contact Alan Garza or Priscilla S. Chapa at 956-286-0022.
jerilynn.thorpe@lmtonline.com | Twitter: @jerilynnthorpe

As the ‘Beast from the East’ prepares to clash with Storm Emma later this afternoon, farmers and rural dwellers have been warned to remain indoors from 4:00pm today and to exercise extreme caution.
The most vulnerable groups of animals to a water shortage are dairy cows, animals on high-concentrate diets and animals fed hay, straw or other very dry feeds.
Dairy cows must have access to drinking water at all times.
According to Teagasc, if an animal is without water for a prolonged period of time, there is a chance they could gorge themselves when it is made available again.
Therefore, protecting pumps and supply pipes is important.
However, pumps can sometimes trip out.
Pipes from the pump to the sheds and troughs need to be kept thawed.
Farmers could fit a tap at the end of the pipe serving the shed.
According to Teagasc’s Tom Ryan, the amount of water the animals are using and the heat from the animals should be enough to stop pipes freezing.
He also outlined that supply pipes to the sheds that are above ground will cause endless problems.

Water supply to Nizrab Banda, one of the most underdeveloped villages of Hangu was one of such examples where MOL Pakistan has single-handedly completed the project.
Citing serious water-borne illness among residents of most of the villages located along the Bannu-Kohat Road due to lack of access to clean water, MOL Pakistan conducted an Electrical Resistivity Survey (ERS) in the area in coordination with the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Karak.
An open well was installed that has catered to the needs of thousands and provided them undisrupted access to clean drinking water.
After completion, the scheme was handed over to Public Health Engineering Department.
On request of local community of the Hoti Banda village in Kohat, MOL Pakistan conducted a detailed assessment in coordination with government authorities and after analysing the ground situation, the scheme was approved, executed and handed over to Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) for future operations and maintenance.
In the far-flung areas of Karak where the situation worsens during summers, MOL Pakistan in collaboration with Karak’s district government sponsored the unconventional scheme of water supply using bowsers.
“MOL Pakistan’s commitment to social welfare was example of a corporation helping society and those in dire need.
Whereas many companies see their CSR obligations as a burden, MOL Pakistan has always gone above and beyond the legal requirements to assist people in need.
This benevolence is essential for progress and Pakistan needs more generous benefactors to continue to develop as a nation,” the statement concluded.
Published in Daily Times, February 23rd 2018.

The traditional model of water governance through state or public water utilities, and the market based privatisation of water supplies that gained momentum in the early twentieth century, have failed to effectively address growing urban water demand.
And so other institutional and management systems have emerged in some urban and peri-urban areas.
Community based water supply models have been common in rural areas for some time.
Community public partnerships typically involve a community – or an elected body within that community – working with a public or state owned water utility.
Technical and financial management have improved.
Questions have been raised about the extent to which improvements in management, accountability, and the number of water points has led to better water access at the household level.
But they are gradually emerging in some of sub-Saharan Africa’s urban spaces.
These arrangements, also known as community-based self-provision, allow communities to form their own institutions for water delivery without formal connections or partnerships with utility operators or municipal governments.
Successful communities were able to get both local and international donors on board to provide them financial support.
But communities cannot do it all alone.

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Mass (WWLP) – Chemicals from a firefighting foam used at Barnes Air Base have been detected in Westfield’s water supply.
Testing done at Westover in 2017 found trace amounts of the chemicals from that firefighting foam in groundwater on base, but drinking water has not been contaminated.
According to Westover’s Environmental Engineering Chief, Jack Moriarty, Westover was using the firefighting foam in question until last year.
Nearly $400,000 was spent testing the water at Westover.
Moriarty said only trace amounts of the chemical were found in Westover’s ground water, and there’s no access Chicopee’s drinking water supply, which comes from the Quabbin Reservoir.
“I do, even though I think my sink water is clean, I still use filtered clean water,” Chicopee resident, Epi Sanchez said.
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WESTFIELD, Mass.
After decades of use at Barnes Air Base, the City of Westfield believes chemicals from fire fighting foam have found their way into the water supply.
“We’ve had several notices come saying they’re above the recommended levels,” said Jason McLaughlin of Westfield.
“I know sometimes the water tastes chlorinated.
I have a ten month old at home.
Little bit of concern there.
Is it safe to be drinking that water?
I don’t know.” According to the Department of Environmental Protection, these chemicals could be related to kidney cancer, testicular cancer and developmental defects in fetuses.
Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan said the city will have a new, and costly filtration system in place by the end of this year.“Right now, our estimate is in the five to six million dollar range,” Mayor Sullivan told 22News.

According to radio station KHEW 88.5 FM, the boil order is for the villages below 3-mile hill on the water system as well as houses on Lower Road below the Monteau cut-across.
KHEW stated the supply is low due to pipes breaking in unheated homes.
If you plan to leave your home and do not have heat, call 395-4225 so officials can shut your water off.
KHEW 88.5 FM shared the following message on their Facebook page:
Bring all water to a boil, let it boil 3 minutes and let it cool before using or us bottled water.
Dirty water may enter broken water pipes.
This water may contain disease-causing organisms.
These organisms can cause symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, cramps and associated headaches.
They may post a greater health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly and people with severely-compromised immune systems These symptoms are not caused only by organisms in drinking water.
Please conserve water and notify our office if you know of broken water lines.

Kochi: Residents of Tripunithura and nearby panchayats can heave a sigh of relief as they may get enough drinking water this summer unlike previous years.
The Irrigation department has started construction of the Rs.7.5 crore permanent check dam at Ramamangalam in the Muvattupuzha River which will ensure availability of enough water in the intake well of the Kerala Water Authority pump house, Choondi.
For the last several years, Tripunithura residents were reeling under acute water scarcity during summer days.
Hundreds of high-rise apartments and big commercial complexes in Tripunithura are solely dependent on the water from Choondi.
Though the construction of the check dam cannot be completed before this summer, the KWA will build a temporary bund which will serve the purpose.
From next year, KWA can save the annual expense of nearly Rs.8 lakhs required for constructing a temporary bund.
Every summer, water supply from Choondi pump is hit as the intake well does not have enough water.
"The proposal for check dam construction was mooted several years ago, but it remained on paper for long and the KWA had to spend a huge amount for construction of the temporary bund.
Though the check dam project has got administrative sanction more than a year ago, the works have been delayed," said John Joseph, member of Poothrikka panchayat.
Under the KWA Choondi sub division there are two schemes, the 46 MLD (million litres per day) plant, which caters to Tripunithura, Thiruvankulam, Vadavukod-Puthencruz, Chottanikkara and Udayamperoor and a small plant with a capacity of 7.5 MLD which caters to Aikaranadu, Poothrikka and Thiruvaniyoor panchayats.

The chemicals are PFAS, per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances.
Samples they collected from 12 wells in Dayton"s aquifer, or Right now, the City of Dayton is working with the Ohio EPA and the U.S. EPA to find a resolution with the base.
One of the steps it can take is to shut down the wells in the area where the PFAS were found, but that’s just a short-term solution.
Dayton Director of Water Mike Powell said there needs to be a more permanent solution, one he says "will require the Air Force to either stop the flow of PFAS from its property or treat the contaminated raw water before it becomes part of the drinking water.
In a one year period of sampling monitoring wells, we have found only one well at the base boundary that exceeded the advisory of 70 parts per trillion, and it does not pose a risk to drinking water supplies.
We anticipate completing replacement of foam in extinguisher systems in nine Wright-Patterson hangars by June.
Ohio EPA Director Craig W. Butler also released a statement regarding Wright-Patterson AFB and continued concerns related to PFAS contamination: “The City of Dayton’s drinking water is safe.
In a Jan. 29 letter to the WPAFB Commander [attached], Ohio EPA detailed specific steps that the base must take to protect Dayton’s water supply, including improved monitoring of ground water contamination from the base and implementing measures to stop the movement of contamination closer to Dayton’s wellfields.
Ohio has serious concerns and feels it is an unacceptable posture for Air Force leadership to simply wait until contamination exceeds the federal Health Advisory Levels in order to address the source of PFAS.
Congressman Mike Turner said he will continue to work to make sure that the situation is addressed by the Department of Defense: “The Mayor’s letter concerns an issue that my office has been actively working with the Department of Defense (DoD), Air Force, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to address.

Water Resources Expert, Dr Osman Alhassan, says the threat of water scarcity, due to climate change and the pollution water bodies, calls for a water harvesting culture. “We need to do a lot concerning water harvesting and I think it was about time we made efforts to separate water use categories where for example we can begin with good water harvesting at the community level and district level and we could use that water for other things than household and drinking,” he said. Commenting on the Ghana Water Company’s plan to soon begin rationing water supply due to the dry season, Dr Alhassan said although some homes already harvest water, there was a need to for national approach, complemented by modern technology and by-laws. Communications Director of the Ghana Water Company, Stanley Mantey, recently said the rate of evaporation of water…