WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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The City of Bloomington Utilities department is battling disinfection by-products earlier in the year than usual. DBPs are typically a warm weather concern, but Utilities Director Vic Kelson said a wet winter has contributed to the formation of precursors to haloacetic acids in Bloomington’s water source, Lake Monroe. Kelson told the Utilities Service Board on Monday, “it’s been a difficult winter.”
Kelson said the conditions at Lake Monroe have led to high levels of those precursors — five times higher than normal — for several months in a row.
Haloacetic acids produce disinfection by-products by reacting with organic matter in the source water, then by reacting with the chlorine used to treat the water for drinking. Soil and rock function as natural filters of the haloacetic acids, but that filtering process doesn’t occur with surface water sources like lakes.
Kelson said Monroe Treatment Plant staff have been vigilant about removing unwanted organic constituents, and their work has paid off. He told the Board recent water tests indicate DBP levels well below EPA limits.
