Weekend boil order ends Sunday | MMU official: Cause of water treatment problem still unknown

Marshall Municipal Utilities put a boil order into effect for all consumers in the towns of Marshall, Blackwater, Napton and Nelson, all of Saline County Public Water Supply District No. 1 and Saline County Public Water Supply District No. 3, except for the Miami and Van Meter areas Friday afternoon, Aug. 14.

The boil order for Marshall and most surrounding areas was lifted before noon Sunday, Aug. 16.

A low level of chlorine residuals, meaning "free chlorine that hasn't combined itself with material," made the boil order necessary, said MMU General Manager Kyle Gibbs.

This free chlorine is what fights microbial growth in the water system, he added.

The city of Nelson was still under a boil order at presstime Monday, and the cause of the problem that initially sparked the boil order is still unknown.

"We're so far out ... that it didn't even effect us until yesterday morning," said Gloria Wilson, chief water operator for the City of Nelson Water Department.

She said she expects the chlorine residuals to return to acceptable levels by Tuesday morning.

The problem was discovered when Cargill employees tested the water lines at the plant Friday, Aug. 14, and found that chlorine residuals were below 0.01 parts per million, one-twentieth of the Department of Natural Resources' minimum-accepted level of two ppm.

Gibbs said Cargill's water tests were done between 7 and 8 a.m. Friday, hours before MMU's standard mid-morning test, which takes place between 9 and 11 a.m. daily. By 9 a.m., Cargill officials had contacted MMU to inform them of the problem.

"We were seeing a low but acceptable level" of .7 ppm in reservoirs, said Gibbs, but "the chlorine at the water plant did not make it to town."

At around noon Friday, chlorine residuals dropped below .2 ppm in MMU reservoirs, Gibbs said, and it "continued to get worse."

Once MMU began adding sodium hypochlorite directly into its reservoirs, the level of chlorine residuals began to rise.

As of Monday, Aug. 17, MMU is pumping out water with chlorine residuals of four ppm.

Gibbs said he has no firm information about why the chlorine levels dropped or why free chlorine was not making it from MMU reservoirs to Marshall, but said the investigation is continuing.

He added "we could have had more instrumentation in the plant to warn us of this problem," and that he plans to add sampling points along the water line to give MMU more information on the chlorine residuals in the future.

Representatives of ConAgra Frozen Foods and Cargill Meat Solutions said each plant will be operational as of Monday.

Residents, businesses and institutions spent much of the weekend adapting to the situation.

The mid-Missouri chapter of the American Red Cross did not provide relief assistance during the weekend's boil order.

Executive Director Mike Odneal said the Red Cross typically responds to requests from city and county governments, but did not receive any for the recent situation.

But, "We would be happy to participate in the future," he said.

The Saline County Health Department's main role during the boil order was as a community resource, Assistant Administrator Russ Donnell said.

"We just provided information," he said.

Donnell provided water treatment tips that were included in stories about the situation published on The Marshall Democrat-News Web site over the weekend.

If there had been a serious bacterial contamination, Donnell said the department and/or Saline Medical Reserve Corps would have been more active in response.

But, he added, "We don't have a large stockpile of water."

Missouri Valley Community Action Agency also provided information about the boil order to area residents.

"Most of what we did was just inform everyone that came in," Intake Specialist Bill Nichols said, adding that most of his department's work is in the form of utility assistance.

Bob Bax of Missouri Department of Mental Health said Marshall Habilitation Center staff "handled the situation very well."

Bax said Hab Center staff boiled water and also provided bottled water to units that do not have capability to boil.

"The bottled water is from a supply that is kept on hand for just such emergencies. It's part of the disaster planning process," Bax said. "It wasn't necessary to truck water in ... and we did not have to ration."

Consumers who live off the Hab Center campus were notified quickly and given instructions on the boiling process. Bottled water was also provided.

In an e-mail message, Fitzgibbon Hospital CEO and President Ron Ott said hospital staff swung into action quickly.

"When the boil order was announced, the hospital and The Living Center immediately suspended use of drinking fountains, fountain drink machines and ice machines. Announcements were made throughout the weekend through our overhead paging system and our internal communication systems about the order. Bilingual signs were also posted at drinking fountains throughout the facility and water was shut off to ice machines, soda fountains and drinking fountains," he said.

Other precautions by the hospital included using paper products for serving food and bottled water for cooking. Bagged ice and previously prepared tea were also brought in.

"Through the hospital's emergency preparedness plans, agreements are in place with area suppliers to bring in additional water and other items, as needed," Ott said.

Staff involved in direct patient care used bottled water to wash hands, followed by alcohol-based hand cleanser, he added.

Patient bathing was accomplished by a product the hospital utilizes which can be used in place of showers, if necessary.

As a final step, "Maintenance crews purged water from all lines and flushed and cleaned all ice machine lines" before using hospital ice machines, Ott said.

The hospital has plans in effect in anticipation of any unexpected emergency situations, he added.

Contact Geoff Rands at marshallreporter@socket.net

Contact Sydney Stonner at marshallbusiness@socket.net

Contact Kathy Fairchild at marshallhealth@socket.net

Related story:
Boil order lifted for Marshall and surrounding areas:
www.marshallnews.com/story/1562371.html