A boil advisory issued in a Mid-Missouri town shows the importance of a clean water supply
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
After a water boil advisory was given to the city of California during a heat wave, the advisory showed the importance of a safe supply of drinking water in Mid-Missouri.
The California boil advisory was issued after E.coli was found in the drinking supply.
The latest reports on how safe the water is for Columbia and Jefferson City show that having a supply of clean water coming into your home is one thing that a lot of those of us in Mid-Missouri take for granted.
In the City of Columbia, the most recent data is on the city website was the water quality report from 2021.
In it, the City of Columbia showed that the drinking water had good numbers in the regulated categories.
However, according to the report, there was a violation of chloramine in the water supply. Chloramine is a product used in the cleaning process. The violation that occurred meant that the chloramine dropped below a certain level required for disinfection.
Which is a by-product of the water treatment process.
In Jefferson City, Missouri American Water supplies drinking water to the city.
The 2021 water quality report shows that Missouri American Water passed water quality testing and was compliant with required levels.
Missouri American Water's Samantha Williams says they work to meet or exceed quality standards in their testing.
"That the treatment plant samples are taken multiple times a day, throughout the entire day including overnight. What we also do is go out into our distribution system, which is a neighboring community, and take samples in the community as well," said Williams.
So when it comes to clean drinking water in your home, Julie Ryan with the CoMo Safe Water Coalition says that while improvements to water quality and testing can get better, it's important for everyone to know how clean their water is.
"It is really important that we understand what is happening with our water utility and what is in our drinking water. We are exposing ourselves to containments. No water system is perfect, but we are exposing ourselves to containments and it's important to understand what is in our drinking water," said Ryan.
