City water review shows 1 reporting violation

By Sam Waller

Albany’s 2022 Annual Drinking Water Report showed one violation, the city’s first in some time.

Albany water superintendent Michael Graham said the violation occurred Sept. 8 when an equipment failure prevented testing for chlorine dioxide and chlorite. Public water systems are required to collect and submit chemical samples of water provided to their customers and report the results of those samples to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on a regular basis.

“A piece of equipment went down, and it was just for one day,” Graham said.

Albany reported no violations in 2021, and Graham said it had been “several years” since the previous one.

Graham said the incident was more a matter of the local water plant being temporarily unable to prove water purity than a case of contamination being discovered.

Results of regular monitoring are an indication of whether drinking water is safe from chemical contamination, according to the report. Since monitoring and/or reporting for chemical constituents was not completed on Sept. 8, the TCEQ could not verify the safety of drinking water during that time. The EPA requires water systems test for up to 97 contaminants.

Otherwise, the report declares that locally treated water once again meets or exceeds all drinking water requirements.

“We’re looking pretty good there,” Graham said.

Both the Environmental Protection Agency and TCEQ require all community water suppliers provide customers annual drinking water reports, informing customers of any contaminants detected, how detected levels compare to drinking water standards, and where their water comes from.

The report states that all drinking water, even bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants, but the presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate the water poses a health risk.

The local report provides consumers with information about all aspects of Albany’s water treatment, as well as a summary of the regular water sampling.  Graham said most by-products are tested for every year, while some like lead or copper are tested every three years.

The levels of all of the inorganic materials tested were well within the EPA guidelines for this year.

The report also noted a water loss audit submitted to the Texas Water Development Board for the 2022 calendar year. The audit showed the city suffered an estimated water loss of 60,739,677 gallons.

“All that water loss is within the system,” Graham said.

Much of the loss is due to an aging infrastructure, and that issue is being addressed, Graham said.

“There has been some discussion of repairs, but there are always budget concerns with getting that kind of stuff done,” he said. “It just takes a little time.”

Anyone who did not receive a quality report can contact City Hall at 325-762-3133 for more information.