2010-02-04
Residents concerned about water quality & reliability
By Carol L. Smith
Hard freezing temperatures on Friday, Jan. 9 through Sunday, Jan. 10, caused residents of Lake Medina Shores and Wharton’s Dock Road to have problems with their water. Residents continue to have concerns about the quality and reliability of their water supply.
Many inhabitants have reported cloudy, milky and dirty water, irregular flow and successive “boil water” notices.
Cause of recent problems
According to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) investigator Jay Don Jobson, the January freeze caused severe problems with the water system owned by Monarch Utility Company of Sugarland. “They had numerous busted pipes,” said Jobson in an interview. “Fifteen separate leaks allowed 150 gallons per minute to escape.”
Don White of the San Antonio TCEQ office reported that two different systems had been combined to serve the over 600 water connections in the Wharton’s Dock area and Lake Medina Shores subdivision. “Boil water notices are required to be posted when there has been an interruption in service,” White stated. “The lines have to be flushed, otherwise the loss of water pressure can cause backflow into the system and could trigger contamination.”
Texas law requires that the owner or operator of a public water system (PWS) must inform customers as soon as possible when it becomes necessary to boil water before using it for drinking, food preparation or washing. PWS personnel must use appropriate mandatory language, prepare a boil water notice and issue the notice by
• furnishing a copy of the notice to the radio and television stations that serve the area served by the PWS;
• Publishing the notice in a daily newspaper of general circulation that covers the area served by the PWS; or
• Posting notices in conspicuous places within the area served by the PWS until further notice by TCEQ if a daily newspaper is unavailable.
Several Lake Medina Shores residents have reported seeing notices stating that water no longer needs to be boiled. However, no one recalls seeing a “boil water” notice in the first place. With a population of 1,777, Lake Medina Shores is the second largest PWS in Bandera County.
Locating stats
Monthly reports of bacteriological testing are required to be filed with the TCEQ with samples taken from the distribution system, not from the wellhead.
According to the Texas Department of Health Services, PWS must also test for minerals and metals such as lead and copper, among others, every year and these results must also be on file with TCEQ. The records on the Monarch website show the last date of minerals and metals testing as 1999.
The results of these tests can be found at “go to water utility database,” at “www.tceq.state.tx.us/permitting/water_supply/ud/iwud.html
Scroll down to the middle of the page, to the search box labeled “search by PWS name or number.” Input the Lake Medina Shores ID # 0100037. Click on the blue highlighted name, Lake Medina Shores.
Results are also available at the Monarch Utilities website, www.swwc.com/monarch/water-quality, by scrolling to “2008 water quality reports” in the middle of the page. In the drop down box, select “D through L,” which contains the Holiday Villages and Lake Medina Shores test results.
The TCEQ website allows customers access the previous years’ testing and violations while the Monarch site only displays testing for the past year.
What the testing means
To assist with interpreting information listed on the websites, turbidity is the amount of particulate matter suspended in water. This makes the water look cloudy, dirty or milky. The Monarch website states that turbidity testing is not required for the Lake Medina Shores PWS.
According to the violations section of TCEQ website, once in the year 2004 and three times in the year 2005, Monarch Utilities was cited by high levels of TTHM.
Chemicals listed on the Monarch report as “total haloacetic acids” are by-products of the chlorination of water, as are other chemicals produced as a by-product of chlorine disinfection, are known as trihalomethanes (THM) or TTHM. Some scientific studies have linked TTHM to an increased risk of cancers and reproductive problems. For more information on TTHM and other safe water guidelines, visit www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants.
Monarch Utilities interview
In an interview, Daylan Presley, Monarch Utilities communications specialist, stated that Monarch services all of the Lake Medina Shores subdivision and Wharton’s Dock road beginning at Bruins Creek road and continuing to the shores of Medina Lake with two groundwater supply wells. While ceding that the water company has a permit to draft water from Medina Lake, Presley said, “At this time, we’ve elected to use groundwater, due to the drought conditions.”
Additionally, he declined to specify the exact point of entry for their water testing at each well, citing, “Since 9-11, we don’t divulge the exact sites for security purposes,” adding, “We meet all purity levels set by the EPA and TCEQ.”
When asked why only the 2008 test results were listed on the website, he said that they were required by TCEQ to file the reports in July, and that the website was new and simply had not been updated since the new report was filed in July 2009.
Presley commented, “We average about two complaints a month – if we don’t have any (complaints), or we don’t know about it, we can’t do anything about it. If we receive a complaint, we certainly investigate it. We are open to meeting with the homeowners association leadership.”
Residents of Lake Medina Shores have commented that they have gotten no response to previous phone calls or complaints. In addition, they had no knowledge of the Monarch website.
Customers with issues or complaints about their water quality or service are urged to contact Monarch Utilities at 1-866-654-7992 or 713-405-1717. The company’s address is 12535 Reed Road, Sugarland Texas 77478. Web address is www.swwc.com/monarch.
