ARCHBOLD WEATHER

Water Quality Issue Discussed By Council


Donna Dettling

Donna Dettling

A Facebook debate over the quality of village of Archbold drinking water spilled over into the Monday, June 15 village council meeting.

Donna Dettling, village administrator, said the village water treatment plant is in violation of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency standards for Total Trihalomethanes, or TTHM.

Trihalomethanes are a byproduct of treating drinking water with chlorine. They tend to form over time, so the longer that water is in the village distribution system, the more TTHMs.

OEPA rules call for the village to test for TTHMs at the furthest points in the water system, where TTHMs are most likely to form.

The OEPA requires the village to notify the public of the violations quarterly.

Dettling said the village will have to continue to notify village residents of the issue for no less than two years.

GAC

During that time, village officials plan to design and construct a Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filtration system at the plant, which should bring the water quality in line with OPEA standards.

A contractor has installed a water mixing and aeration system at the one-milliongallon water storage tank located near the ConAgra Foods plant, at a cost of about $348,000.

The system has been effective at reducing TTHMs in the tank by 30% to 80%, said Scott Schultz, water treatment plant superintendent.

But that system has little impact on the overall water quality in the system.

Dettling said the GAC will “absolutely solve our problem,” but specifications won’t be put out for bids until November.

Construction will occur in 2021.

The GAC system and other water plant improvements are expected to cost between $6-$7 million.

During the water discussion, Dettling explained because of quirks in the village water billing computer program, 700 to 800 water customers who get their monthly water bills by email can’t get the OEPA notices.

Further, the village can’t get a list of the email addresses of those who get bills by email out of the water billing system, she said.

Kevin Morton, council president, told Dettling, “’Can’t’ shouldn’t be an option in this day and age.”

He said if the software vendor can’t provide the information the village needs, then find someone who can.

To answer the Facebook questions, Dettling said she, Schultz, and Jennifer Kidder,

Archbold Parks & Recreation director, will work on a sheet of frequentlyasked questions about water quality.

Findings And Orders

Dettling said Archbold is currently under an OEPA notice concerning water quality.

In July, the OEPA will evaluate the village response to the problem. At that time, she said the village will probably be put under “findings and orders.”

That, she said, has a silver lining.

If the village is placed under “findings and orders,” the cost of a Ohio Water Development Authority loan the village is seeking will be reduced.

The Same Water

Vaughn Bentz, councilman, said 10 years ago, Archbold water quality wasn’t an issue.

“The water was the same, and the water was fine,” he said.

“I think people need to realize it’s the same water we’ve been drinking,” Bentz said.

He said the quality of Archbold water was acceptable until the OEPA, without saying exactly why, or what the dangers of trihalomethanes are, arbitrarily lowered the allowable levels for TTHMs.

“We’re always going to be chasing it, because they keep changing the rules,” Dettling said.