City upgrades treatment system with a new disinfection method

The Warren plant serves about 70,000 customers.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Kidney dialysis patients and fish tank owners will soon have to take special precautions as the city's water treatment plant adds a new method of disinfecting the supply.
The city now uses chlorine to kill bacteria and other germs that could endanger customers' health.
Beginning in the first week of December, the plant will add a secondary disinfection process known as chloramination, which uses both ammonia and chlorine. This reduces chlorine byproducts in the water and keeps the city in compliance with federal and state regulations.
The city sent notices about chloramination to customers with their June water bills and again addressed the matter Friday.
The city "does not want to be responsible for anybody getting harmed from the city's water supply, so we want to make sure that we reach everyone," with the warning, said Robert L. Davis, the city's utility services director.
The city's water treatment plant received its first ammonia shipment Thursday. It has built a new building that houses the ammonia in two 1,000-gallon stainless steel tanks as part of a $12 million upgrade of its water treatment plant.
"I think it's going to be a smooth transition," said Vincent Romeo, water treatment plant superintendent. "We're on schedule to go with this, and Warren has always served the public with safe drinking water, and we're going to continue to do it."
Chloramines
Like chlorine, the new disinfectants, known as chloramines, would be toxic in water used in dialysis. The city has notified dialysis centers that they must remove chloramines from water used in dialysis machines. Romeo urged people with home dialysis machines to consult with their physicians and machine manufacturers concerning adding a high-grade activated carbon filter.
Chloramines are poisonous to fish, amphibians and reptiles, including turtles. Owners of these pets are urged to contact pet supply stores for recommendations. Chloramines can be removed from aquarium water by a using a filter or by adding agents to remove ammonia and chloramines from the water. An aquarium filter would cost less than $40, Romeo said.
The water department recommends buying a kit to test home aquarium water for ammonia and chlorine. Grocery stores and restaurants with lobster tanks must also treat their tank water.
Reason for change
The addition of chloramination will reduce the amounts of byproducts, known as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids that are formed as chlorine reacts with small amounts of organic matter found naturally in the water. THMs and HAAs can cause cramps and diarrhea; they can also cause taste and odor problems.
The Warren water system, which serves about 70,000 customers, must comply with reduced U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency tolerances for THMs and HAAs by Jan. 1, Davis said. The Warren water system serves consumers in Warren city and township, Lordstown, and Howland, Bazetta, Fowler and Champion townships.
The change in disinfection method won't affect most water uses, including drinking, food preparation, laundering, dishwashing, plant-watering and filling swimming pools. But the change will reduce the chlorine taste and likely make the water taste and smell better, the department said.
milliken@vindy.com