City investigates turbid water — no reason for health concern

A recent series of earthquakes just miles away from Susanville is believed to be the cause of cloudy or discolored water in the city of Susanville.

According to a press release published Jan. 2 on the city’s Facebook page, “The recent earthquakes on Dec. 28 and 30, appear to have stirred up sediment in one of the city’s spring sources and some areas of the water distribution system may have also experienced temporary disturbance of sediment inside water mains. This can cause turbidity, which appears as cloudy or slightly discolored water.

“Turbidity levels are temporarily above the state’s secondary (aesthetic) standard, which affects appearance only and is not health-based. Water quality continues to meet all primary health standards, and a boil water notice is not required.”

According to the release, turbidity — cloudiness cause by naturally occurring minerals and sediment — does not pose a health risk.

What should customers do?
• If you notice cloudy or discolored water, you may run cold water for several minutes until it clears.
• If desired, you may use a home filter certified for particulate reduction for aesthetic purposes.
• Continue to report water quality concerns to the water system so staff can track and respond to localized issues.

What is the city’s water system doing?
The city of Susanville Water Division has taken the following actions:
• Increased water quality monitoring throughout the distribution system.
• Flushed affected water mains where needed.
• Verified proper operation of the disinfection facilities.

“We will continue to closely monitor water quality and will notify customers immediately if conditions change or if any protective actions become necessary,” the city reported. “If you have any questions or need additional information, contact the city of Susanville Public Works Department at (530) 257-1041.”

Update
LassenNews.com contacted City Manager Dan Newton this afternoon for an update on the matter.

He said the city continues to monitor the city’s water system. He said the city is pretty sure the turbidity problems is due to ground disturbances related to the recent temblors, and it appears to be affecting the water obtained from Cady Springs.

“At Cady Springs we have different collection sites where we collect our water” Newton said. “We were monitoring this weekend … We don’t have a concern with bacterial contamination, but we’d like to see the turbidity number go down. This morning we sampled each collection site to see if we can determine if it’s a single collection site that’s creating our problem. We have the ability to isolate them, and that’s the work that’s happening now.”

Newton said the city is still meeting the state’s drinking water standards and there the turbidity does not pose a health concern. And he said the city is working with state engineers as it investigates the issue.

“They do this for water systems across the state, so they’re more experienced and familiar with emergency response and water quality issues,” Newton said.

“Once we get more information from the tests we’re conducting we’ll have more information about what our next steps will be,” Newton said.

Newton, himself a city water customer, said his water, which comes partially from Cady Springs is clearing some, but that’s just a personal anecdote that may not apply system wide.

“We’ll have to wait until we get the official numbers from the lab,” Newton said.