Emergency disaster proclamation extended, burn ban lifted for Marion County
Although Marion County's water crisis appears to have ended for Marion and could end for Hillsboro and Peabody by the middle of the week, Marion County Commission extended, Monday, the emergency disaster proclamation for another 10 days, through July 3.
After careful deliberation, commissioners lifted the burn ban that was enacted for the entire county earlier in the week. They talked about continuing the ban but decided it would be a hardship for area farmers.
Farmers want to burn off wheat stubble as soon as the grain is harvested, so they can plant fall row crops.
While the burn ban is off, farmers and others who want to burn stubble should call local fire departments or districts before they begin. They also should have their own water supply, "because we may not be able to back them up," said county commission chairman Howard Collett.
Problems continue
Although Marion's backup water supply from Luta Creek now is fully implemented and the city has rescinded its emergency water conservation measures, problems continue.
There is a taste and odor problem with Marion water right now, Marion City Administrator David Mayfield said Monday at the city commission meeting. It is not a health issue, he said.
A carbon machine at the Marion water treatment plant broke down. The machine alleviates bad taste and odor in the water by removing impurities. Repairs should be made by Wednesday.
In the meantime, those who find the water too offensive can obtain Brita or other brands of filtering devices at local hardware stores.
According to Marion city officials, Kansas Department of Health and Environment has said Marion can resume using reservoir water, but that the treatment plant needs to be modified somewhat, first.
In fact, KDHE recommends going to ozone treatment of the water before distribution. "But it's costly," Mayfield said. "Maybe when we do an update of the plant that (ozone) would bring us into compliance forever, probably."
Ozone will kill anything that comes in with the water, Mayfield said — bacteria, toxins, etc. "We need to gather all the information we can get, then make a decision," he told the commission.
The two electrical pumps the city ordered about a week ago were sold, in error, to someone else by a salesman for the manufacturing company.
But the company is building two more for Marion, and they should be here soon. The delay has caused no problem, Mayfield said, since the gas-powered pumps are working all right, though not pumping as much water as the new pumps will.
Harvey Sanders, director of public utilities, said city workers "have done a super job. They put in about 114 hours of overtime (since the water/algae crisis began nearly three weeks ago) to keep the water flowin'."
At Hillsboro
Meanwhile, Hillsboro is awaiting test results before it begins treating reservoir water. Lab results were expected back by Monday, but now the city expects to get them as late as Wednesday.
Neither city currently is drawing water from its usual source, Marion Reservoir.
Hillsboro continues to truck water from McPherson and a nearby rural water district for distribution to Hillsboro and Peabody residents.
Marion, which had been trucking some water from Marion County Lake, now is relying exclusively on temporary pumps installed to take water from its former source, a well along Clear Creek that eventually sends water into Luta Creek, where it is extracted behind the city water plant.
Peabody
Peabody also is helping conserve, augmenting its water from Hillsboro with water treated from Peabody's former source, a local well.
According to the city offices, water tanks are parked daily at the entrance to the Peabody park to distribute non-potable water for flowers and gardens. The public should bring their own containers. If it rains, the tanks will be moved to 8th and Locust at the Brooks well house.
Test results
What Hillsboro is waiting for are results of comprehensive testing on whether new treatment procedures at its water plant filter out algae and associated toxins. The results are expected Wednesday from a laboratory in Ohio.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment assisted the city by suggesting levels of algae byproducts that could be regarded as safe.
"There are no national or state standards for these toxins in drinking water at this time," Garrett said. "The values we will be using were compiled by KDHE, and are consistent with guidelines established by the World Health Organization, Australia, and Canada."
Until it is clear whether the new waterworks procedures can achieve those levels, mandatory water conservation will continue in Hillsboro and Peabody.
Mandatory conservation ended Thursday in Marion, as soon as the city was able to upgrade its temporary Luta Creek pumps. "The water plant is up and running to its full capacity," City Administrator David Mayfield said.
Twin gasoline-powered pumps are now taking 620 gallons per minute from the creek, Public Works Superintendent Harvey Sanders said. That's almost exactly the same as the city's normal reservoir hookup — all without having to wait for $10,562 in permanent new equipment the city ordered Monday to make its Luta Creek water intake an always available, turnkey backup.
Water was turned back on Thursday at Marion's two car washes and at Ron's Cleaners and Coin Laundry.
Marion Municipal Swimming Pool, which closed for only one day, was back in operation a day earlier, even before the water emergency ended.
Mayfield said that the highest daily use by the pool last summer was 233 gallons. The pool is being operated in "conservation mode," with water being recirculated constantly. Hours are from 1 until 6 p.m. The wading pool is not open, and no showers are being allowed to conserve water.
Mayfield estimated the pool only would need to use 100 to 150 gallons of water per day in conservation mode.
"This is minimal use," he said.
"It's like a hot tub. It's full to start, and the only daily usage is to keep it that way, and recirculate the water."
Deanna Thierolf, pool manager, said attendance was good Thursday. Sixty kids were in the pool at 1:20 p.m., she said.
In other news:
— The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has re-opened all swimming beaches, and recreational use of the lake is back to normal. However, engineers say that people should avoid coming into contact with visible surface scum.
— The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has reviewed the results of reservoir water samples taken June 12 by Southwest Missouri State University biology professor Russell Rhodes.
Based on the results and observations made at the reservoir, the algae bloom appears to be diminishing, according to Karl Mueldener, director of the state bureau of water. He presented his findings to local official in a letter dated June 18.
According to Rhodes' results, the life expectancy of such an algae bloom is two weeks. Friday, June 20, marks two weeks from the first day Hillsboro stopped taking in water from the reservoir.
— KDHE recommends that cities treat their drinking water with a combination of an activated carbon filter and chlorine. According to Mueldener, "this type of treatment approach routinely assures low levels of algal toxins in finished water." Using ozone in water treatment is another method the cities should consider one day, he wrote.
— There are no national or state standards regarding the amount of toxins allowed in drinking water. But according to the KDHE, there are some other guidelines available.
For toxins that come from the "microcystis" algae, a "maximum contaminant level" exists. That MCL varies for two types of exposure: chronic and acute. Chronic exposure takes place over time, building up slowly in the body. The MCL for toxins from the microcystis is one microgram per liter — that means that if an adult were to drink two liters of that water each day for 70 years, he would have less than a one in one million chance of getting cancer (or whatever disease the toxin causes).
Acute exposure makes a person sick immediately.
The acute MCL level for this type of toxin would be 10 micrograms per liter.
According to Rick Brunetti of KDHE, some water that was tested at the entry point into the Hillsboro water plant (not the lake itself) showed 0.002 or 0.003 mg/L of toxin — a negligible amount.
