Document text
Water clear enough to change minds Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Kathleen Wingert likes being able to fill her water glass straight from the tap in Medford, after years of drinking only bottled water. Medford�s sources are among purest in world By Melissa Martin Kathleen Wingert has been drinking bottled water for 30 years. She didn�t stop when she moved from Southern California to Medford this summer. But last month, she took a tour of Big Butte Springs, Medford�s primary water source at the base of Mount McLoughlin in the Cascade mountain range. One look at the crystal-clear spring water and Wingert did something she hadn�t done in years. She went home, turned on the kitchen tap, filled her glass and drank deeply from a city water supply. "I�m very picky about the taste of water," said Wingert. "But since I went on the tour, I�ve been drinking tap water." The Medford Water Commission recently mailed a report to its consumers in Medford, Phoenix, Jacksonville and Eagle Point letting them know what Wingert has just learned: Medford gets its water from one of the purest sources in the world. Samples of Medford water from its two sources � Big Butte Springs in the winter, combined with treated Rogue River water in the summer � showed undetectable levels of substances in 70 of 85 tests. The only positive tests were in minerals that occur naturally beneath the earth�s surface such as calcium, chloride, copper, iron, silica, sodium, sulfate and zinc. All were in amounts far below what the federal government allows. "It�s some of the best water in the world," said Gary Stevens, manager of the Environmental Health Division for Jackson County. Bob Noelle, Medford water quality superintendent, attributes the purity to the sources. "Big Butte Springs is one of the best sources in the nation and the Rogue River also has excellent quality but needs to be treated," Noelle said. The federal government began requiring cities to test drinking water in 1962. The Safe Drinking Water Act followed in 1974. Most recently, the Environmental Protection Agency required water districts to publish a Consumer Confidence Report listing test results. Medford Water Commission has been publishing water quality reports for decades. The one mailed to customers this month was packed with history, maps and numbers. "A totally pure water source does not exist in nature," writes Laura Hodnett, public information specialist and author of the report. "As water travels over the land or through the ground, it naturally dissolves minerals and picks up other material. Any substance found in water is referred to as a contaminant. All sources of drinking water contain some contaminants, many of which are not harmful, especially at low levels. Some actually improve the taste of drinking water and may even be beneficial in small quantities." What�s found in Medford water, for example, can also be found in ingredients in vitamins and minerals on the grocery shelf. Some people buy a brand of water, such as Perrier, because they like the taste of the minerals in it, she said. "Distilled water is one of the most pure forms, but have you ever tasted it? Minute amounts of substances add flavor to water," Hodnett said. What Medford water lacks are synthetic organic chemicals that come from pesticides, herbicides or solvents, such as might be found in areas with intensive agriculture productions or chemical manufacturing plants. Neither does Medford water have volatile organic chemicals from fuels and other vaporizing solvents. "If we were living in a heavily industrialized area, like some areas of New Jersey, we would be more apt to find these chemicals, but not here in the Rogue Valley," Stevens said. Medford water got an A in the most publicized category � there were zero positive results of total coliform bacteria in 1999. The Medford Water Commission sampled water at 35 points around the distribution system and found no traces of fecal coliform bacteria, Giardia lamblia or cryptosporidium, micro-organisms that can cause illness. Medford�s spring water is captured underground, before it sees the light of day, and is 47 degrees Fahrenheit at the source. Rogue River water is about 56 degrees. It has a nearly perfect pH level of 7 and is moderately soft, with 26 to 30 parts per million on a scale in which 100 is hard water. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA