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Recent Backflow Incidents and Articles While some incidents are listed here, please refer to the ABPA Discussion for here for up to date information.
Novi Cancels Boil-Water Advisory City falls victim to Internet hoax, considers banning items made with water
The Associated Press ALISO VIEJO, Calif. (AP) - City officials were so concerned about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used in their production. Then they learned that dihydrogen monoxide - H2O for short - is the scientific term for water. "It's embarrassing," said City Manager David J. Norman. "We had a paralegal who did bad research." The paralegal apparently fell victim to one of the many official looking Web sites that have been put up by pranksters to describe dihydrogen monoxide as "an odorless, tasteless chemical" that can be deadly if accidentally inhaled. As a result, the City Council of this Orange County suburb had been scheduled to vote next week on a proposed law that would have banned the use of foam containers at city-sponsored events. Among the reasons given for the ban were that they were made with a substance that could "threaten human health and safety." The measure has been pulled from the agenda, although Norman said the city may still eventually ban foam cups. "Our main concern is with the Aliso Creek watershed," Norman said. "If you get Styrofoam into the water and it breaks apart, it's virtually impossible to clean up."
For more information on dihydrogen monoxide
Wind socks power, water BY ERIC OLSON, The Herald-Sun March 8, 2004 11:26 pm DURHAM -- A brief but fierce windstorm Sunday night plunged 15,000 Duke Power customers into darkness in Durham and Orange counties and temporarily disrupted water supplies Monday afternoon in Durham, officials said. On Monday morning, business at area tree services was as brisk as the storm, which may have packed less punch in the Triangle than in other areas of the state, but still sent tree limbs and debris flying with gusts of up to 47 mph. The storm knocked out power to the Brown Water Treatment Plant in Durham, resulting in less water pressure in areas of the city Monday afternoon, including the Duke University Hospital. A hospital spokesman said water pressure was down for about 20 minutes, starting around 2:30 p.m. No surgeries were delayed, but hospital officials did implement their emergency response plan -- delivering bottled water for washing and drinking and extra alcohol foam to all units and departments, spokesman Richard Puff said. On Duke's campus, water demand and use already were significantly lower because students are on spring break. "On the university side, that was fortunate," said Keith Lawrence, associate director of Duke's office of news and communications. And adding to the quickly changing weather, the National Weather Service said Monday night that snow accumulation of up to an inch would be possible tonight through Wednesday morning. Mike Moneypenny, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said a new storm system from the Great Lakes was expected to hit the state today. "We expect snow to begin in the mountains [this] morning and spread east throughout the day," he said. "It's expected to hit here early to midafternoon." Moneypenny also noted that today's high temperature should be in the low to mid-40s, which may keep the accumulation to a minimum of about an inch or less on grassy surfaces. "Of course, our ground will be warm, so we're not expecting anything to stick to road surfaces," he said. Temperatures could drop to around freezing tonight, with a high Wednesday of about 45, he added. Since the storm struck Sunday, Duke Power crews have been working 16-hour shifts throughout the Carolinas, spokesman Tom Williams said. About 2,000 crew members were working to restore power to 230,000 customers systemwide. In Durham, 9,700 people were in the dark Sunday night, and 5,300 lost power in Orange County. "It's a major storm," Williams said. "We have them from time to time. It's something that we prepare for, and we're doing our very best to get folks back on." The storm downed trees and power lines, but gardeners at Duke Gardens said they saw no serious damage. However, Jeff Bracken, owner of JB Tree Service, said he had about twice as many people call for help as is usual at this time of the year. "One tree hit a deck; one tree hit a well pump," Bracken said. Another tree had fallen and blocked the caller's driveway, and "We tried to make that a priority," he said. At Anne Terry's house on Muirfield Court, a 20-foot pine tree fell from her front yard onto her roof. "It shook the whole house," she said. She called a tree service to remove the tree Sunday night, and a crew cut the treetop into pieces and hoisted it off the house early Monday. That afternoon, roofers repaired the shingles on her one-story home. Terry said she had never worried about the tree falling. "It was really out in the wooded area, not that close to the house," she said. The city's water problems began after the storm knocked out power at the Brown Water Treatment Plant, said Vicki Westbrook, conservation coordinator with Durham's environmental resources department. Officials were still investigating what happened, Westbrook said, but once the plant lost power, its diesel-powered backup pump kicked in. Then, just as the crew was restoring power at about 1 p.m., that pump also failed. And almost at the same time, a large pump at the Williams Water Treatment Plant shut down, a news release said. Staffers are investigating that shutdown as well. Durham's elevated water storage tanks were supposed to be refilled Monday night, according to the release, and the lapse was not expected to have an effect on water quality, although some water customers might see a slight discoloration. If that happens, customers are advised to run their water briefly until it turns clear. If the discoloration persists, contact the city at 560-4344. Customers also should check the water before washing any white clothing. Staff writers Ben Evans, Meredith Buse and Hunter Lewis contributed to this report.
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http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-456416.html $1.2 million settlement reached over contaminated drinking water
Julia Robb In May 2000, residents living in and around the Walden Point subdivision in Pineville found that their drinking water had been contaminated with sewage. On Tuesday, about 110 of those residents had their revenge in 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria. Insurance companies representing the city of Pineville and Pan American Engineers, the city's engineering firm, agreed to settle the residents' lawsuit for $1.2 million. That amount represents all costs and damages, including medical costs, according to lawyers involved in the case. All plaintiffs must agree to the settlement before money is distributed. The city of Pineville itself does not have to contribute to the settlement, according to attorney Jimmy Faircloth, who represented Pineville in court. One plaintiff was not included in the settlement, as that plaintiff is making more extensive medical claims than others who joined the consolidated suit, Faircloth said. A number of families are among the 110 residents benefiting from Tuesday's settlement. For example, four of the residents may belong to the same family. Faircloth said the sewage affected about 60 residences. About 35 of those residences were in Walden Point, city officials have said. Plaintiff Karen Bond said she's glad the suit "is almost over. It's been three years." Some of the plaintiffs are getting more money than others are, she said, and the amounts depend on the amount of medical care the plaintiff needed due to the sewage and a family's size. Bond said she and husband, James, did not have serious medical problems due to the sewage and were not getting much money. The couple will not even be able to pay off their $14,000 car, she said. Judy Boles said she and her husband declined to join the lawsuit because they knew the contamination "was an accident, and we did not want to cause any difficulty to the city." "I knew the one who made the mistake was not out to harm anyone," Boles said. "And we were not harmed" by the sewage. Pineville Mayor Clarence Fields said he is pleased with the settlement, but he expects it will affect the city's insurance rates. The city gets its coverage from Coregis Insurance Co., which also was sued. Pan American Engineers and its insurance company, Security Insurance of Hartford, were also defendants in the case. "The city has tried to show it is concerned about what happened. I'm relieved. We need to move forward," the mayor said. Fields said the city's water and sewerage department has been reorganized since the sewage incident in order to show residents that the city has done everything it can to "prevent anything of this magnitude happening again." State certified city employees must now inspect every water and sewerage connection before the city signs off on a job, he said. Fields hopes that the last plaintiff and that plaintiff's insurance company will come to an agreement. The residents' water was contaminated when a city employee inadvertently connected a business' sewerage pipe to a 6-inch water pipe. Faircloth said sewage was forced into the water line when one of the company's three employees or customers used the toilet. Faircloth said the sewage was treated at a small plant before it went into the water pipe, and it was diluted by a large amount of good water. At the time the problem was discovered, an engineer for the city said health risks to affected residents were "minimal" because of the chlorine the city adds to the water. Pineville workers tested the water after residents complained, but they could not find anything wrong for two months, Faircloth said. The problem was brought to city officials' attention by a resident who noticed "white stringy matter" had clogged filters on a washing machine and a dishwasher. The material also clogged an icemaker. The material turned out to be toilet paper. Other residents complained about smelly water coming from the tap. The city ended up replacing various residents' appliances that were contaminated, including hot water heaters. The sewage problem put Pineville in the international spotlight for a short time. The Associated Press picked up a Town Talk story about the polluted water, which led to a Cable News Network story. Attorney Thomas Wahlder, who filed the initial lawsuits, said he feels "really good" about the settlement. "The whole litigation involved complicated issues of insurance coverage," he said, "and linking each plaintiff's illness to the particular discharge in question. That was an issue. "All the parties gave up a little bit to get the matter resolved. The alternative would have been years of litigation."
Water contamination concerns Goodyear officials By JOHN KRUPAST. MARYS -- Officials from Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. say they discovered on Monday that the St. Marys factory's internal, municipal water-supply line was exposed to non-potable water from a coolant line that drew from holding ponds. Members of the St. Marys Water and Waste Water Department were called in to test the water supply Monday and discovered it contained the bacterium coliform. Coliform is a mircoorganism commonly found in the intestinal tract of humans and animals, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's Web site. "Their presence in water indicates fecal pollution and potentially adverse contamination by pathogens," the site said. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Spokeswoman Dina Pierce said the bacteria can cause a stomach virus that might result in flu-type symptoms, vomiting and diarrhea. She said the severity of the response depends on the amount of coliform ingested and the strength of each individual's immune system. Marv Selhorst, director of environmental health for the Auglaize County Health Department, said the company has had no reports of illnesses. He said if no one turns up ill by this afternoon, they should remain unaffected. Bob Monti, human resources manager for the local plant, said company officials have begun an internal investigation to determine how a valve linking the two piping systems opened. "Indications are someone would have had to have opened it," Monti said, discounting the likelihood of an equipment malfunction. Monti said the valve is sometimes opened in the summer when the water in the outside holding ponds grows too hot to cool the factory's heavy machinery. The colder municipal water is then drawn through the valve and safely into the coolant system in these instances. Selhorst said his agency received two anonymous phone calls from Goodyear employees on Wednesday morning. The employees claimed the company's drinking water had been contaminated. Selhorst said he alerted officials at the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and contacted management at Goodyear. "They noticed some turbidity in several toilets Monday," Selhorst said, adding that the same system serves the plant's water fountains and sinks. "Apparently some employees were exposed initially." Though Monti said the problem was identified Monday morning, he didn't know exactly when employees were notified. Two anonymous callers also called The Evening Leader Wednesday morning and said they were concerned management had not informed workers of the contamination quickly enough. United Steelworkers Local 200 Vice President Rick Niekamp gave no comment on the matter. "When we had indications we had problems, we shut the fountains down, though I'm not sure when they actually shut down," Monti said. Company officials soon brought in bottled water for plant employees to drink and held company-wide meetings updating them on the system's status, he said. "Our main concern was for the well-being of our associates," Monti said. St. Marys Superintendent of Water and Waste Water Dave Sprague said the bacteria test on Monday did come back positive, but it could have been due to a dirty testing site. He said the sample was taken from a sink that was dirty from factory wear and tear. He said it was difficult to find any sampling site in the factory where this would have not been an issue. "It's 99 percent for sure that it influenced the sample results," Sprague said. Nevertheless, the positive reading kept the water system shut down through Wednesday, and spurred additional tests on Monday and Tuesday. The Tuesday test came back negative for bacteria, Sprague said this morning. Sprague said the city's water supply was never affected. "We checked up and downstream from Goodyear to make sure nothing went wrong," he said. Monti agreed and said the contamination in Goodyear waterlines could not have spread to other lines in the city. "At no time was the city water affected, nor had any potential to be affected. It was an internal thing," he said. The connection has since been severed, Monti said, and he thought there were no other additional connection valves along the lines. "The concern is OK, it happened. Let's make sure it doesn't happen again," he said. Meanwhile, Monti said company officials continue to try to understand how the valve opened. "Anytime there is a situation like this you want to find out what caused it," he said. He would not speculate on any possible repercussions an employee might face if it was discovered he or she opened the valve. "There's no indication there was any criminal activity. Because the investigation is incomplete, I'm not going to accuse anybody of intentionally turning it on," he said. "Whether it was done deliberately or by accident, who knows?" Selhorst said.
The Evening Leader
Water Conservation Campaign
http://www.capecoral.net/citydept/pw/pw_campaign.cfm
WATER LINES Feb 14, 2004 Cape penalized for water mix-up State-mandated measures to cost about $72,000
By DON RUANE, druane@news-press.com Cape Coral will be penalized about $72,000 for violating the state’s health safety rules last summer when its workers crossed drinking and irrigation water lines at four homes. Irrigation water is treated wastewater, but it is not as pure as the water that people use for drinking, cooking and bathing in their homes. The penalty is part of a tentative agreement between the city and the Florida Department of Health that will be considered by the city council at its 5 p.m. meeting Tuesday. “We’ve now hashed it out at the staff level and now I have to take it to the council for approval,” city Public Works Director Chuck Pavlos said. Instead of paying a fine, the city is required by the order to improve its installation and maintenance procedures and to send customers a brochure about cross connections that can occur when homeowners or plumbers work on their lines. The city’s installation procedures have been revised, Pavlos said. A documentation plan for meter maintenance still needs some work. The brochure has not been written. “That’s the one we’ve got to work on,” Pavlos said about the brochure. The new procedures and maintenance plan, plus the brochures, should cost the city $71,655, according to the consent order. The city also is required to pay the health department $500 to cover its expenses for investigating the mistake and tracking compliance with the consent order. “It’s a very small price to pay for public safety,” said one of the four homeowners, Ron Kazel, after the order was outlined for him. “It’s great to have safeguards in place. Accidents happen.” But another one of the homeowners, David Balough, declined to comment on the consent order. He wanted to talk to his attorney first, he said. No lawsuits have been filed concerning the cross connections, and there have been no reports of illness. The city did get one letter from an attorney asking about a settlement, but the matter didn’t go any further, city spokeswoman Connie Barron said. The city took steps to improve its procedures immediately after the problems were discovered, she said. Cape Coral’s safety procedures will exceed minimum requirements when the consent order’s improvements are in place, said Gary Maier, director of environmental engineering for the Lee County Health Department. The city will have to report on its progress within 375 days of when the order becomes effective, Maier said. It must be signed by the city, Health Department Director Dr. Judith Hartner and then filed with the department before it becomes official. The reporting requirement will be dropped after the first year if the city is in compliance, Maier said. But the city will have to continue to meet its requirements, he added. The city became aware of the problem last summer when residents complained about taste and water pressure. One family used the irrigation water as drinking water for more than three months before the problem was discovered last July. Two other homes were hooked up for about a month. One was vacant. At each home, workers failed to dig deep enough to expose the identification tape that distinguishes the two water lines, a city report said. Disciplinary hearings for workers involved have been completed, but no decision has been reached on how they might be punished, Pavlos said. He declined further comment until decisions are reached. Although the irrigation water is filtered and treated with chlorine, it is not certified for drinking and can cause gastrointestinal problems, such as vomiting and diarrhea, according to health officials. The irrigation or “reuse” water comes from residential sinks and toilets, and is treated biologically at one of the city’s wastewater plants before being routed back to a resident’s lawn irrigation system. It often is blended with fresh water from canals. Crossed connections are not a common problem, but they are serious health threats, Maier said. The four homes were among 580 homes that were hooked up to new utility lines in southwest Cape Coral. All of the homes were checked without finding any additional mistakes.
http://www.news-press.com/news/cape/040214consent.html
Foul event: Wrong water sent to homes CAPE CORAL, FL. (AP) — Some residents here are crying foul after learning that utility workers mistakenly hooked up four homes to the city's treated wastewater instead of its purified drinking water. One family used the substandard water for more than three months. Two other homes were hooked up about a month ago, and a fourth was vacant, officials said. The wastewater comes from residential sinks and toilets. It is filtered and treated with chlorine, but that doesn't eliminate parasites that can cause gastrointestinal problems, such as vomiting and diarrhea, said Lee County Public Health Director Dr. Judith Hartner. "Mistakes were made," City Manager Terry Stewart said recently. "The best we can do is make it right." The wastewater is sanitized at one of the city's treatment plants before being routed back to residents' lawn irrigation system. It often is blended with fresh water from canals. Although the lines have been fixed, there are health concerns for the residents. Ron Kazel, who learned Wednesday that his water had been connected to the irrigation system since June, would not comment on whether he and his wife were experiencing health problems. "I'm livid," Kazel said. Since detecting the problem, the city has flushed and chlorinated the lines, and agreed to pay for any medical bills or other costs associated with the problem.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2003-08-01-water_x.htm# |
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