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Water, water everywhere and every drop to drink Medford commission gives H2O an A-OK By MELISSA MARTIN The Rogue Valley is blessed with clean, safe water, according to the latest report from the area's major water supplier. The Medford Water Commission recently mailed a report to its 100,000 consumers in Medford, Central Point, Eagle Point, Jacksonville and Phoenix letting them know that Medford's water quality remains unchanged after nearly 75 years drawing from Big Butte Springs at the base of Mount McLoughlin and 33 years supplementing in the summer with treated Rogue River water. "People don't realize how fortunate we are to have good water quality in Southern Oregon," said John Neilson of Neilson Research Group, which conducts water tests for local cities. "I've traveled all over the United States and in Southern Oregon, we have excellent water." Medford Water Commission tests for inorganic contaminants, such as metals and salts, pesticides and herbicides, organic chemicals, such as petroleum products, solvents and industrial by-products, radioactive contaminants, some of which are naturally occurring, and microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage systems, livestock or wildlife. Most of what Medford tests for is not found in Big Butte Springs or Rogue River sources. And if tests come out positive, the numbers are below federal standards. "All sources of drinking water, whether a river, lake, spring or well, will contain some impurities," according to Laura Hodnett, Medford Water Commission spokeswoman. "Many of these substances are not harmful, especially at low levels. And not all contaminants are found in every water source. In fact, most of the substances we test for have never been detected in our drinking water." For example, Medford water has no arsenic, MTBE (an oxygenate added to gasoline to improve air quality supply) and no microbiological contaminants (viruses and bacteria that can cause illness). "We've not had a positive for many years," said Bob Noelle, water quality superintendent for the Medford Water Commission. Neither does Medford's water contain lead or copper. However, the metals can enter the drinking water supply through corrosion in household plumbing. Lead and copper tests are drawn from the kitchen tap by residents who volunteer to fill up a container in the morning before pipes have been flushed out, Noelle said. In Medford, samples are taken from homes built before the state's lead ban in 1985. The home is selected after crews scrape kitchen pipes to confirm that the plumber used lead solder. Cities each sample between 30 to 60 homes, depending on population and sample history, and report the 90th percentile value. In Central Point's case, the 90th percentile value - the third-worst sample in the test - was a home with a sample that contained 11.2 parts per billion of lead. It was the highest of any city listed in the water quality report - Eagle Point had 5 ppb, Jacksonville 3 ppb, Phoenix 1.3 ppb, Medford had 1 ppb. All samples in every city were below the federal "action level" of 15 ppb; with results at this level, the federal government requires water distributors to conduct an education campaign. The highest result was in Central Point was at 14 ppb. The Central Point home that tested 11.2 ppb was built in 1979 and was in the same neighborhood as a home with a 2.3 ppb test result, which shows how much samples can vary even between homes similar in age and construction, said Rick Bartlett, public works superintendent. Homeowners who participate in the lead and copper testing do so voluntarily and collect the sample without the help of professionals. Central Point has trouble finding homeowners willing to stay in the testing program year after year, Bartlett said. Consistency is something that Medford Water Commission has with its test homes. For example, the home with the highest lead count in 1992 (13 ppb) had test results of 6 ppb in 1995 and 5 ppb in 1998, Noelle said. Phoenix experienced similar variation in results - the city's 90th percentile value dropped from 6.0 in 1997 to 1.3 ppb in 2000. Why the differences? There could be many reasons, explains Jim Wear, Phoenix public works director. "The samples are taken in the first draw of the morning and there's a possibility maybe somebody got up in the middle of the night and flushed the toilet or got a drink of water," Wear said. "They could have taken the sample from the kitchen one year and the bathroom the next. There's always a wild card." Just because a home tests high, it doesn't mean the residents are consuming metal every time they take a drink. Samples are taken when the water has been sitting in the household pipes for 12 hours and before the system gets flushed out from activities like taking a shower or washing clothes. "It's the worst-case scenario," said Gary Shipley, Eagle Point public works director. When it comes to copper pipes in the home, a chemical reaction may prevent metal from leaching into water, according to Noelle. "Metals tend to sequester and get a film over the corrosive deposits; that shields the copper from the water," Noelle said. "Often we see that older homes have less of a problem over time. When we replace copper service lines in our system, we see an oxidation film or coating that covers the copper and isolates it from the water," he said. People who are concerned about lead and copper in their home can purchase test kits. They are available at local hardware stores for about $50. And in Central Point, homeowners can get a free test by volunteering to collect samples for the city. Call 664-7602, ext. 241. Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.