November 5,2014 –
The City of Hanford city council is expected to approve an expenditure this week to comply with a State Water Board requirement that they must immediately chlorinate all their drinking water.
The council is being asked to approve a contract for almost $800,000 to Tellstar Instruments after a series of tests showed Total Coliform was higher than allowed.A staff report says the city began having Total Coliform failures in June of this year. At the time, there were many new projects connecting to the City water system.
“ We believe that the contamination was caused by poor workmanship and care in connecting to the water system” concludes the staff report.
City staff worked to flush the system and could not clear the contamination. Subsequently, the State Water Resources Control Board required the city to implement their emergency temporary chlorination program in an attempt to remove the contaminants from the system. “Staff have been unsuccessful, without the use of chlorination, to provide water that meets the Total Coliform Rule.”
The city has now received notice from the State Water Resources Control Board that they have violated the Total Coliform Rule for their domestic water system for three months straight and are “now required to provide continuous chlorination.”
Funds to pay for the system come form city reserves. No word on how or if the city will seek damages for the extra costs.