Town of Kremmling Had Elevated Levels of Turbidity
Our water system recently violated a drinking water requirement. Although this situation is not an emergency, as our customers you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct this situation.
We routinely monitor your water for turbidity (cloudiness). This tells us whether we are effectively filtering the water supply. Water samples for May 2023 showed that 16 percent of turbidity measurements were over 0.3 turbidity units. The standard is that no more than 5 percent of samples may exceed 0.3 turbidity units per month. The turbidity levels are relatively low. However, their persistence is a concern. Normal turbidity levels at our plant are .020 -- .100 turbidity units. In addition, we failed to notify the state drinking water program of the violation in a timely manner.
What does this mean? What should I do?
- You do not need to boil your water or take other actions. However, if you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor.
- Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. These symptoms are not caused only by organisms in drinking water, but also by other factors. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice.
- If you have an infant, severely compromised immune system, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your doctor about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by bacteria and other disease-causing organisms are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
What is being done?
- The treatment plant experienced a change in incoming water quality due to Jones reservoir overflowing into sheep creek prior to entering treatment plant. While making necessary changes to treat this dirtier water, our turbidity monitoring device used to report finished water quality data, became partially plugged causing its reading to go up. From May 24th to May 27th our samples were above 0.30 turbidity units. Levels dropped back below this limit when the turbidimeter was cleaned.
The problem was resolved on 5/27/23. For more information, please contact Oakley Ellis at Oakley@mtnmtc.com or 970-531-7305, or PO Box 538 Kremmling, CO 80459.
*Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, 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: Town of Kremmling - CO0125455