Iolans received a water test report Saturday that to some may have seemed ominous. The report said coliform bacteria had been found in three water samples taken and analyzed in March.
Toby Ross, water plant supervisor, stressed that the results do not indicate a threat to Iola’s drinking water, and that no boil order or any other household measures need be taken.
“Our water is safe to drink,” Ross said. “This isn’t an emergency. Coliform bacteria generally are not harmful. They are naturally present in the environment and (in water tests) are used as an indicator that other, potentially harmful bacteria may be present.”
Iola is required to take six random water samples throughout the city each month. Two samples taken in March showed the presence of coliforms, as did one of three follow-up samples.
“We did the follow-up samples to make sure that no E. coli or fecal coliform bacteria were present,” Ross said. “None was.”
How the benign coliform bacteria came to be in the water samples is unknown. No coliforms were found in April samples.
“From the plant through the distribution system we have more than adequate chlorine,” Ross said.
“We have no problems at the plant and there’s no indication of any in the distribution system,” which has about 63 miles of mains that deliver water to storage towers and then to service lines running to homes. “We also do our best to protect samples from contamination, to the extent of using sanitary wipes during collection.”
Precise source of the coliforms never may be known.
This wasn’t the first time coliform bacteria were found in water samples. It happened in September and October of 2009, without any further problems.
“I’ve been here 17 years and we’ve never had a bacteria problem that led to a boil order” or any other extraordinary measure, Ross said.
THE COLIFORM warning accompanied an annual report Ross is required to send consumers that gives levels of metals, fluoride and chemicals associated with fertilizers found during testing of the city’s water during 2010.
In no cases did levels approach any limits; in most they were a small percentage.
