Governor Mark Dayton proclaimed May 6-12 as Safe Drinking
Water Week in Minnesota, and Lt. Governor Yvonne Prettner
Solon posed with Uma Vempati and Carol Blommel Johnson
of Minnesota American Water Works Association (on her left)
and Ruth Hubbard of Minnesota Rural Water Association
and Aggie Leitheiser and Randy Ellingboe of the Minnesota
Department of Health (on her right). Four communities also
received Source Water Protection Leadership Community
certificates from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)
for serving as an example to other communities of how
local government involvement by land owners, community
residents, and government can lead to innovative and effective
implementation of source water protection efforts.
From
left to right in the photo below are Ardith Carr, Verndale; Cara
Olmscheid and Jim Rothstein, Saint Martin; Cliff McLain,
Moorhead; Todd Osweiler, Rochester, Lt. Governor Yvonne
Prettner Solon. During the week MDH released its drinking
water annual report, which is at http://www.health.state.mn.us/
divs/eh/water/com/dwar/report11.html.
I’d Recognize That Guy Anywhere
Photo by Jackson Forderer, Minnesota Public Radio News
Governor Proclaims Safe Water Week
Minnesota Department of Health engineer John Blomme shows
his good side as he was captured in a photo by Minnesota
Public Radio (MPR) that made MPR’s Photo of the Week
website feature. Shawn Nelson of Lincoln Pipestone Rural
Water holds up the manhole cover for Blomme, who was
conducting a sanitary survey in Round Lake. In other MDH
engineer news, David Weum has moved to the St. Paul office
to do plan review (he was a district engineer out of the Mankato
office), Bassam Banat will be the engineer for the new MDH
construction inspection program, which calls for interim and
final statewide construction inspections of new drinking water
projects , and Todd Johnson has become the Contaminants of
Emerging Concern principal engineer.
Water Operator Exam Dates
June 22, Baxter
June 28, Wahkon
July 10, Spring Grove
October 11, Mankato
October 11, St. Cloud
October 19, Owatonna
November 20, Clarks Grove
November 29, Detroit Lakes
December 12, Biwabik
See calendar on back page for more information
Summer 2012 Volume Nineteen/4
Inside:
Ten Jobs Americans Can’t Live Without
Eden Prairie Water System Helps City Grow
Clean Water Fund Performance Report Available
AWWA Issues Report on Infrastructure Challenges
10 Jobs Americans Can’t Live Without
Target Field Water System Toured
Number 2 may be the bread and butter of the wastewater industry, and the job of water/wastewater treatment
operator was number 2 on a list of 10 jobs Americans can’t
live without, compiled by 24/7 Wall Street and published
on-line by Reader’s Digest.
Water/waterwater operators finished behind only registered
nurses in the necessity of their jobs to society. Charles B.
Stockdale of 24/7 Wall Street wrote, “Water and liquid waste
treatment plants require near-constant supervision in order to
ensure that customers receive safe water. As a result, system
operators must either work or be on call at all hours. Plants are
highly regulated and can face a number of problems. Storms
can cause flooding in sewers, and water can be tainted by
chemicals. Plant operators are responsible for all of this.”
Following registered nurses and water/wastewater
operators were:
3) Firefighters
4) Railroad conductors and yardmasters
5) Telecommunications equipment installers/repairers
6) Air traffic controllers
7) Nuclear power reactor operators
8) Police and sheriff’s patrol officers
9) Electrical power line repairers
10) Correctional officers and jailers
The article is available on-line at http://www.rd.com/
slideshows/10-jobs-americans-cant-live-without.
Students at the Metro District Water Operators School had the
chance to tour the ultrafiltration water system at Target Field
in April. The system captures rainwater, treats it, and uses
the water for irrigation and cleaning. Below, Mike Sandor of
Pentair explains the treatment system.
Bayport Receives Fluoride Grant
Other Water Operator School Highlights
Above: Meter Madness was a feature of the Southeast District
School. Below: Don Shelby was the keynote speaker at the
Metro School.
David Rindal of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)
Drinking Water Protection Section and Patti Ulrich of the
MDH Oral Health Program visited Bayport water operator
Tim Gardner (right) after the Bayport municipal water system
received a grant to upgrade its fluoridation equipment. The
grant program was developed by MDH and funded by the
Health Resources and Services Administration. Municipal water
suppliers monitor system performance, collect daily samples,
and submit reports and results to MDH on a monthly basis.
They also collect and submit quarterly duplicate samples to
the MDH Public Health Laboratory. Samples are collected from
distribution system locations that are representative of the
entire drinking water system. At optimal levels, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention reports that community
water fluoridation reduces childhood cavities by approximately
18 to 40 percent.
2
Water Causes a Fire?
Yes, the headline on the front page of the Monday, April 25, 1904 Minneapolis Tribune read, “Pure Water Causes Fire.”
The story:
An innocent looking jar of Inglewood spring water was responsible yesterday afternoon for what might have
resulted in a bad fire had it not been for the watchfulness of Patrolman A. Wendall.
The jar was one of two that occupy a place in the window of the Glenwood-Inglewood Spring Water
company, 313 Hennepin avenue. The two jars are alike in design and capacity. They are made of glass
in the form of a globe and stand upon a pedestal. In one is a quantity of yellow malarial looking stuff
labeled “City Water.” In the other is an equal quantity of a pure, crystal liquid bearing the legend “Inglewood
Spring Water” and it was this jar the did the mischief and might have been the occasion of an amount of blazing
conflagration equal to Mrs. Murphy’s cow.
The office of the company is on the ground floor on the east side of the street. The globes stand alone
in the window, and until yesterday showed no inclination for things different than that for which they were
designed—showing the contract between the much debated product of the city’s pumps and the bubbling fluid of
the springs.
Yesterday, however, the pure white liquid belied the white purity of its appearance and showed it
contained an evil propensity far more malignant than its yellow, colon bacilli laden companion. Directly
behind the two jars is stretched a curtain made of heavy material for the purpose of ornament. The rays of the
afternoon sun falling steadily upon the jar made of it a powerful lens that focused the heat of the sun’s rays upon
a spot in the curtain, with the result that when Patrolman Wendall passed at 2 o’clock he was mystified to see the
curtain begin to smoke and then break into a blaze before his eyes.
He turned in an alarm and Capt. H. L. Berwin of hook and ladder No. 1 entered the store, tore the curtain from
its hangings and extinguished the blaze.
It is considered fortunate that the office was located upon the ground floor in the full view of the patrolman and
passers by. A fire originating in such an innocent manner in a great office building on Sunday would have acquired
headway before discovery.
Meanwhile, municipal water continues to be used to put out fires, not start them.
High-Hazard Cross Connections as
Significant Deficiencies
Words to Live By
Wisdom to Carry You through Life
What Does A Good Cross Connection Control
Program Look Like?
When your work speaks for itself, don’t
interrupt.
—Henry J. Kaiser
Third in a series by MDH engineer David Rindal
From the perspective of the Minnesota Department
of Health, a cross connection control (CCC) program is
beneficial because it helps a public water supply (PWS)
identify inadequately protected high-hazard cross connections through a logical, systematic process. Obviously, the
size, complexity, and comprehensiveness of such a program
depend on available resources. But what minimal features
should a CCC program include? A comprehensive CCC
program will normally include the following elements:
Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do.
There can be no courage unless you’re
scared.
—Eddie Rickenbacker
• Authority to implement the program, e.g., powers granted
through city ordinance
• Authority to enforce the program, e.g., powers granted
through city ordinance
• Reporting and recordkeeping
• Certification of backflow assembly testers (Minnesota
Statute 326B.437[b])
• Public notification of backflow events
As a cross connection control program grows and matures,
a municipality might find it useful to add other functions:
• Approval of specific backflow prevention devices
• Specification of backflow prevention device testing
requirements
• Backflow protection requirements based on premise type
• Public education campaigns, e.g., backflow education
pamphlets with utility bills
I feel sorry for someone who has to win at
everything.
—Snoopy
You can discover more about a person
in an hour of play than in a year of
conversation.
—Plato
Life is a pile of maybes.
—Stew Thornley
3
Eden Prairie Grows with Its Water System
At the time of the first treatment
plant expansion, in 1978, the city added
another well and has been installing wells
periodically since 1982. Fifteen wells,
approximately 400 feet deep and each
with a pumping capacity of 1 to 2 MGD,
extend into the Prairie du Chien and
Jordan aquifers. The hardness of the
raw water is around 320 parts per million
(ppm) and is 90 ppm after treatment.
The original treatment plant had builtin storage of approximately 1 million
gallons. In 1981 a 2-million-gallon tank
on a hill at the north end of town, off
Baker Road, was added and followed by
two towers: the 1-million-gallon Hidden
Ponds tower in 1988 and the 2-milliongallon Market Center tower in 1996. The Market Center
tower is notable for its attractive design, which includes
18-foot-diameter clocks on all sides and an arch design with
a masonry pattern on its concrete pedestal. The tower is also
famous for having caught on fire three times, once during
construction when the curing concrete generated enough heat
to set fire to the foam forms, and twice because of the neon
lighting within the clock melting plastic and creating flames.
The three above-ground tanks surround the city in such
a manner to aid firefighting. Dale Folen, then a project
manager at the Minnetonka firm of Rieke Carroll Muller
Associates, Inc. when the tower was built, explained, “The
ability to fight a fire from multiple directions optimizes the
watermain sizing. If you can cause water to flow from two
different directions in fighting a fire, you cut the velocity in
half and double the available water going to it.”
In addition to its tank and towers, Eden Prairie has three
underground tanks on the north side of the treatment plant
for another 3.5 million gallons of storage.
The 1998 plant expansion added an environmental
education center. The utility brings in students and others
to raise awareness about water. The center has also hosted
the Drinking Water Institute, an annual three-day seminar for
science teachers to learn about ways to add drinking water
Eden Prairie has grown from a small
farming village to a thriving regional
center 12 miles southwest of Minneapolis. Its 36 square miles feature hills,
lakes and wetlands, trails, prairie, and
forests with the Minnesota River as its
southern boundary. Eden Prairie Shopping Center, Flying Cloud Airport, the
headquarters of the Minnesota Vikings,
Hennepin County Technical College, the
Southwest transit hub, and a growing
number of high-tech businesses are in the
city, which has become the place to live
for many athletes from the state’s major
league sports teams.
From 2,000 residents in 1960 to more
than 60,000 a half-century later, Eden
Prairie can trace its success among many factors. One is the
public water system, which began in the early 1970s. A pair
of wells first served the citizens as the city looked at options
for a treatment plant. The city council had a long-term vision
in mind, looking to meet residential and commercial needs
for the coming decades, and decided to have lime softening
as part of the process. Its neighbor to the east, Bloomington,
was softening its water, and the Eden Prairie council wanted
to be competitive and flexible with its water supply.
Rick Wahlen, who has been the manager of utility
operations for the city since 2006, says he gets questions
from other cities on how to be attractive to industry with their
water systems. Often, businesses considering a property site
in Eden Prairie ask about the water supply, wanting to make
sure their water needs will be met if they move to the city.
“Much of the development [in Eden Prairie] goes back to the
council looking at a good water treatment plant.”
The split-treatment facility, which opened in 1974, had a
capacity of 4 million gallons a day (MGD) with two-stage
clarification: lime softening and coagulation with ferric
sulfate (now ferric chloride) followed by dual media
filtration. The treatment plant has been expanded three
times—in 1978, 1988, and 1998—to bring its capacity to 28
MGD. The utility averages about 6 MGD in the winter and
up to 23 MGD in the summer.
Eden Prairie—Continued on page 5
Left: Rick Wahlen in the water treatment plant’s laboratory. Right: A basin added as part of the 1998 expansion.
4
Eden Prairie—Continued from page 4
The city’s well houses were designed to blend in with other residential and commercial buildings.
to their curriculum, and is the metro home for the Water
Environment Technologies course conducted by St. Cloud
Community and Technical College.
Wahlen says he knows the importance of communication
and education about water. Responsible use of water by
residents helps to keep their summer peaks at manageable
levels. The city had a decline in water consumption the last
two years, a result of conservation although Wahlen says it
may have been affected by a pair of wet summers and that
they’ll get a better idea of how people steward their water
use as they come into a dry spring and summer.
In 2011 Eden Prairie went from a two-tiered to a five-tiered
residential rate structure. “We kept the rates reasonable for
reasonable users,” said Wahlen, with the lowest rate being
$1.85 per thousand gallons and the highest at $4.35 per
thousand gallons. Wahlen said most of their commercial
customers use a more consistent amount of water year-round
although those who need irrigation as part of their business
have a separate irrigation meter billed at $2.85 per thousand
gallons at the lowest tier, up to a maximum of $4.85 per
thousand gallons for use above 26,000 gallons per month.
The 1998 expansion also focused on the grounds
as a public example of water-conserving landscapes,
providing a pleasant appearance and using flora that needs
little water.
A pleasing appearance is part of the other utility facilities
away from the plant, conforming with the city’s “brick or
better” standard for commercial property. Well 7 is housed
in a split-level structure designed to blend in with adjacent
houses, and another wellhouse was built with two-tone gray
rusticated stone to match an office building behind it. The
wellhouse by the entrance to City Hall includes an electric
signboard with messages about city business and community
events.
Although Eden Prairie is built out to its limits on all sides,
the city anticipates some redevelopment as well as potential
for more multi-family dwellings, especially with the coming
of the Southwest Light Rail Transit line. The comprehensive
plan estimates a population of 77,000 by 2030.
Wahlen said they’re in a position to meet the demand
and ready for anything else that comes along, adding,
“It’s always changing.”
Left: The Eden Prairie water treatment plant, originally built in 1974, was last expanded in 1998. Right: Bob Peterson explains
the utility’s SCADA system, which, along with the utility’s process control and chemical feed systems, is undergoing major
upgrades. In May 2012 the city learned it had won the “Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation” for the Midwest Region for
cities in the 30,001 to 100,000 population category.
5
Legionella and Water Supplies
Legionellosis is a collection of infections that emerged
in the second half of the 20th century and are caused by
Legionella pneumophila and related Legionella bacteria.
The severity of legionellosis varies from mild febrile illness
(Pontiac fever) to a potentially fatal form of pneumonia
(Legionnaires’ disease) that can affect anyone, but it principally affects those who are susceptible due to age, illness,
immunosuppression, or other risk factors, such as smoking.
Water is the major natural reservoir for legionellae, and the
bacteria are found worldwide in many different natural and
artificial aquatic environments.
Illness occurs when contaminated aerosolized water from
cooling towers, whirlpool baths, nebulizers, faucets, and
showerheads becomes airborne. When a susceptible host
inhales the contaminated aerosol, legionellosis can occur.
Aspiration of the contaminated water can also cause the
disease. Legionella thrive in a warm humid environment and
are somewhat resistant to chlorine disinfection. Monitoring for Legionella bacteria in public water supplies is not
routinely conducted. Proper operation and maintenance of a
public water system, including disinfection of the distribution
system, can control any bacterium that may be present and
reduce the risk of illness occurring. It is only when optimal
conditions that allow the bacteria to multiply rapidly are
present and there is a loss in a protective barrier that illness
occurs.
According to a recent Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention report, cases of Legionnaires’ disease have nearly
tripled over the last decade. This apparent increase may be
due in part to improvements in the detection of the disease but
can also be attributed to warm climates and extreme weather
events. In any case, water consumers and providers need to
take preventative measures to protect against this disease.
Last summer there was one reported case of illness in
Minnesota that may have been linked to a temporary water
service line. This work was not unusual for a watermain
replacement project. The hot weather, the dark color of the
plastic piping, and low water use, in part due to summer
vacations, all provided the conditions needed to allow bacteria to grow rapidly. The following recommendations apply
when installing temporary lines above ground:
• Make sure piping used for temporary watermain meets
the requirements of the Minnesota Department of
Health.
• Disinfect the temporary line before installation.
• Keep the temporary water service line in place for the
shortest time possible.
• Test the watermain and service lines or bacteriological
quality prior to use in accordance with American Water
Works Association Standard C-651.
• Make sure a chlorine residual is always present in the
water line.
• If possible, provide insulation to maintain a lower
temperature in the line.
• Flush the water line regularly.
• Notify residents prior to connection with a recommendation to flush their pipes before using the water if the
water has been idle for several hours.
Other water sources that provide optimal conditions for
growth of the organisms include domestic hot-water heaters
that operate below 140º F and deliver water to taps below 122º
F; humidifiers and decorative fountains that create a water
spray; dental water lines, which are frequently maintained
at a temperature range of 68º F to 98º F; stagnant water in
fire sprinkler systems; and warm water for eye washes and
safety showers.
There are several guidelines and standards available
for maintaining water quality in buildings. The American
Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Engineers is developing a Legionella Standard: Standard
188 P, Prevention of Legionellosis Associated with Building
Water Systems. The purpose of this standard is to present
practices for the prevention of legionellosis associated with
centralized building water systems.
Those with questions about legionella and their water
system may contact their district engineer or look for more
information on legionella at upcoming water operator
schools.
Safety Spotlight: Walk Like a Cop
Body-language expert Janine Driver included a link in
her Lyin’ Tamer Gazette newsletter to an article by Lori
Houck on how to develop street-cop body language, a skill
that could keep away the bad guys when water operators,
engineers, regulators, and anyone else are out working or
doing anything else.
“When a predator or criminal is scoping out potential
victims, body language often holds the key to whether we
are put on the prey list or not,” writes Houck. “This means
we have a good chance at NOT making their radar light
up by using body language as a piece of armor in self
defense.”
Some ways street cops look confident and in control
include standing with head high, back straight, feet wide;
walking with a purposeful stride; and looking people in the
eye and speaking with a strong voice.
Awareness, self-control, competence, readiness, and
awareness, Houck says, won’t attract thugs as much as body
language that is timid, insecure, uncertain, and clueless. “We
don’t all have to walk the cop walk or put on their body language daily. It’s something you put on when the need arises.”
The complete article is at http://tinyurl.com/83c3lj8.
Driver’s Lyin’ Tamer Gazette is at http://tinyurl.com/6p8q6pa.
Waterline
Published quarterly by the
Drinking Water Protection Section,
Minnesota Department of Health
Editor: Stew Thornley
Staff: Noel Hansen, Jeanette Boothe
Past issues of the Waterline are available at
http://www.health.state.mn.us/water/newsletters.htm
6
Clean Water Fund Performance Report Now Available
being spent and the progress that’s been made. The measures
are organized into three sections: investment, surface water
quality, and drinking water protection. These measures are
part of a larger set that will be used to consistently track
and report clean water outcomes over the 25 year life of the
amendment.
Each measure has a status ranking and trend information. Of the 18 measures, status and trends vary; 6 measures
showed improving trends, 11 showed no trend or were too
early to assess, and 1 showed a slightly declining trend.
Money in the Clean Water Fund comes from the Clean
Water, Land and Legacy Amendment that Minnesotans
passed in 2008. The Legacy Amendment increased the state
sales tax by three-eighths of one percent beginning on July 1,
2009 and continuing until 2034. One-third of the revenue is
distributed to the Clean Water Fund, and five percent of that
amount is set aside for drinking water protection.
The Minnesota Department of Health participated with
seven other government partners in the development of
a tracking framework and performance report targeted at
measuring the difference that money from the Clean Water
Fund makes in protecting and restoring Minnesota’s waters.
The Clean Water Fund performance report contains a
summary of 18 measures with status and trend information
in a report-card format, including measures of technical
assistance for wellhead protection planning, new health-based
guidelines for contaminants of emerging concern, changes
in source water quality, and new wells with elevated nitrate
concentrations. MDH Clean Water Fund initiatives are also
included in the financial investments section.
The report is designed to help Minnesotans understand the
connections between Clean Water funds invested, actions
taken, and outcomes achieved. The 18 measures in the report
provide a snapshot of how Clean Water Fund dollars are
Reminder to All Water Operators
When submitting water samples for analyses, remember to do the following:
- Take coliform samples on the distribution system, not at the wells or entry points.
- Write the Date Collected, Time Collected, and Collector’s Name on the laboratory request form.
- Write the Sample Point on the laboratory request form.
- Attach the label to each bottle (do not attach labels to the lab form).
- Include laboratory request forms with submitted samples; make sure the information on the bottle label
and the lab form is the same.
- Use something other than a rollerball or gel pen; the ink may run.
Notify your Minnesota Department of Health district engineer of any e-mail changes for contact people.
If you have questions, call the Minnesota Department of Health contact on the back of all sample instruction forms.
AWWA Issues Report on Infrastructure Challenges
American Water Works Association has issued a report, Buried No Longer: Confronting America’s Water Infrastructure
Challenge, described as a “call to action to utilities, consumers, and policy makers” that “recognizes that the need to replace
pipe in the ground puts a growing stress on communities that will continue to increase for decades to come.”
Among the findings in Buried No Longer are that the needs are large, household water bills will go up, important
differences exist based on system size and region, and that postponing investments will only make the problems worse.
The report is available at http://tinyurl.com/793338y.
Change in Fluoride Optimal Level Proposed
comment period with a final recommendation expected at
the beginning of 2012. Once the HHS recommendations
are finalized, MDH will investigate changes in policies and/
or laws that will continue to promote and protect the dental
health of all Minnesotans.
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency also
announced in 2011 that it intends to reevaluate the existing
fluoride maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 4.0 ppm. A
secondary (non-enforceable guideline) standard for fluoride
is 2.0 ppm to protect against moderate dental fluorosis, a
cosmetic effect. Some areas of Minnesota have naturally
occurring fluoride in the ground water. All systems are in
compliance with the MCL although a small number have
levels of fluoride above 2 ppm in their water.
In 2011 the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) proposed an adjustment to the recommended
optimal fluoride level in drinking water for dental health. The
proposed recommendation was a single national fluoride
level of 0.7 parts per million (ppm) for community public
water supplies. If approved, this would replace an optimal
fluoride range of 0.7 to 1.2 ppm, which was used by the state
of Minnesota when it developed its fluoridation laws.
To promote public health through the prevention of tooth
decay, Minnesota requires municipal water supplies to maintain an average distribution system fluoride concentration
of 1.2 ppm while remaining between 0.9 ppm and 1.5 ppm.
That requirement remains in effect. The newly proposed
HHS optimal level of 0.7 ppm was subject to a 30-day public
7
Presort Standard
US Postage
PAID
Permit No. 171
St. Paul, MN
Environmental Health Division
625 North Robert Street
P. O. Box 64975
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0975
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
CALENDAR
Minnesota Section, American Water Works Association
*June 20-22, Central Water Operators School, Baxter.
*October 19, Southeast Water Operators School, Cabela’s,
Contact Lisa Vollbrecht, 320-650-2834.
Owatonna, Contact Dennis DuChene, 507-384-0559.
September 19-21, Annual Conference, Duluth Entertain*November 27-29, Northwest Water Operators School,
ment Convention Center, Contact Corey Lubovich, 218Detroit Lakes, Contact Brian Bergantine, 218-299-5610.
262-7725.
*October 11, Southwest Water Operators School, Mankato.
Contact Jeff Larson, 507-537-7005.
Information for all district schools, including agendas, is at
http://www.health.state.mn.us/water/wateroperator/trng/schoolagendas.html
*Includes a water certification exam.
Minnesota Rural Water Association (MRWA), Contact Kyle Kedrowski, 800-367-6792
*June 28, Operation & Maintenance,
MRWA Class D and E Training
Wahkon
Class E
July 10, Operation & Maintenance,
June 19, Aitkin
Spring Grove
June 26, St. Paul
*October 11, Certification Refresher,
St. Cloud
November 8, Financing Your Community Projects. Glencoe
*November 20, Operation & Maintenance, Clarks Grove
For an up-to-date list of events, see the training calendar on the MDH web site:
December 12, Operation & Maintehttp://health.state.mn.us/water/wateroperator/trng/wat_op_sched.html
nace, Biwabik