Oakland tells water customers system broke turbidity rule in September; Broadford plant back online
The Town of Oakland says its water system violated a state and federal drinking water requirement in September, and that its Broadford treatment plant is back in service after nearly two weeks offline for repairs.
The Town of Oakland says its water system violated a state and federal drinking water requirement in September, and that its Broadford treatment plant is back in service after nearly two weeks offline for repairs.
The town posted the notice Saturday on its website and Facebook page. It will also be mailed to Oakland water customers on Monday, Oct. 19.
"There is nothing you need to do," the notice says. Customers do not need to boil their water or take other steps, and the town says none of its testing has found disease-causing organisms in the drinking water.
What happened
The violation involves turbidity, or cloudiness, which water systems monitor to show their filters are working. The rule allows no more than 5% of a month's turbidity readings to go above 0.3 units. In September, 5.3% of Oakland's readings did.
The town called the levels "relatively low" but said "their persistence is a concern." Normal readings at the plant are below 0.3 units.
Turbidity itself has no health effects, the notice says, but it can interfere with disinfection and can be a sign of germs that cause nausea, cramps, diarrhea and headaches. People with severely weakened immune systems, infants, pregnant women and older adults may be at higher risk and should ask their health care providers about drinking the water. The EPA's Safe Drinking Water Hotline is 1-800-426-4791.
Timeline
According to the town:
Oct. 1: The town reported the September problem to the Maryland Department of the Environment, citing ten high turbidity readings on Sept. 29 and 30.
Oct. 2: State engineers visited to look for the cause.
Oct. 3: The town shut down the Broadford plant and began servicing its filtration system. The Bradley plant supplied the town while Broadford was offline.
Oct. 9: While crews checked whether part of the system could be fed from the Mountain Lake Park system, a valve was exercised at Dennett Road and Broadford Road. An unused line leaked, water was lost quickly, and the pressure changes stirred up buildup in the mains. Customers on the eastern part of the system saw severely discolored water.
Oct. 13: On MDE's advice, the town issued a boil advisory for continued discoloration, then recalled it after MDE said one was not needed because nothing had gotten into the system. Flushing continued until the discoloration cleared.
Oct. 16: Bacteria tests passed and turbidity measured within the legal limit, and MDE approved bringing Broadford back online. The plant is serving customers again.
What was fixed
The town says crews partly drained and cleaned the plant's clarifiers and switched the treatment chemical from aluminum sulfate to polyaluminum chloride. They checked the filter media against the engineering designs and added more. New turbidity meters were installed on the filters, and more have been bought for the finished water. All of them will be tied into the plant's monitoring system for round-the-clock readings.
Testing will continue to be watched closely, the town said, and plant operations will be adjusted as needed.
Questions
Customers can contact Mayor Andrew Sauder at mayor@oaklandmd.gov, 240-321-7283, or by mail at 15 South Third Street, Oakland, MD 21550. The notice says to leave a name and number if he can't take the call.
