Access to safe drinking water is an essential component to human health. The Willamina water division provides safe and reliable drinking water to its community.
Willamina prides itself on making sure it follows all rules and guidelines with Oregon’s federal, state, and local laws, rules, regulations, and ordinances. There’s a process in maintaining these services; the operation and maintenance of the intake faculty at Willamina Creek, pump stations, hydrants, the water treatment plant, storage reservoirs, and the water distribution systems to name a few.
The water division is also responsible for water sampling and testing to stay in compliance with water quality regulations and will perform hundreds of tests to ensure the water meets or surpasses the standards, meter reading and installations, and leak detection checks.
Even though the treatment process reduces the number of impurities found in Willamina’s drinking water, there can still be traces of minerals or other chemicals in the water supply you use every day.
Some of the routine monitoring process’s that are checked on a daily basis are:
Turbidity – the measurement of water clarity, which becomes improved through the water treatment process. Turbidity is caused by matter such as organic and inorganic particulates, silt, algae and tiny microorganisms. High turbidity will contain more undesirable microbial contaminates. To endure it stays safe, turbidity is continuously checked at the water treatment facility.
Chlorine – used to disinfectant to ensure the destruction of potentially harmful microbes and to control the microbial activity within the pipes. Chlorine is texted continuously at the water treatment faculty to endure its safe, and adequate levels are maintained.
Regular testing is done at various locations and distribution system within the city to test for Total Coliform and E. Coli bacteria to make sure microbial contamination has not occurred. Total Coliform bacteria are considered a useful indicator of microbial contamination. Why? Because these bacteria are impacted by the water disinfection in a manner similar to most bacterial pathogens. We use Total Coliforms to determine the adequacy of the water treatment and integrity of the distribution system.
The City of Willamina water division is a division of the Willmaina Public Works Department and is committed to serving the community and protecting the environment through excellent maintenance and operations of the facilities, keeping communication with the community, and follow all the state and federal water quality rules required.
