City of Altus plans for water quality improvements

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Dillon Davis
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --   The City of Altus and community partners, including Altus Air Force Base, are coordinating to improve water quality and increase the supply of water to residents before 2016.

The current water quality reports have revealed that the current supply exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency and state limits of 80 parts-per-billion for Trihalomethanes (TTHMs).

The organic matter in the city's water supply becomes more concentrated as the water levels decline.

"What the city does to combat that organic matter is to chlorinate the water," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Megan Batten, 97th Medical Group bio-environmental flight commander. "When the chlorine kills off the organic matter, it creates TTHMs. And our tests show that we are in violation for having too many TTHMs in our water."

The Altus Chamber of Commerce and community partners created the Water Task Force Working Group, which includes members of the city council, city staff, Altus AFB and chamber members from other industries in the area. The purpose of the group is planning, coordinating and executing a plan to improve water quality and quantity for all residents.

According to notes from a recent Water Task Force Working Group meeting, the City of Altus is currently rehabilitating two groundwater wells, drilling two additional groundwater wells and installing a new 10-mile transmission pipeline, which is expected to be complete by August 2015. This project is expected to add up to one million additional gallons-per-day to the City of Altus supply. Additionally, the City of Altus is working to reconfigure the existing reverse osmosis treatment facility that is currently off-line. The facility is expected to be complete in December 2015.

In addition to efforts by the City of Altus, the Tom Steed Conservancy District is adding a groundwater well field to its capability.  This well field is expected to be completed by December 2015 and should add over one million gallons-per-day into the existing infrastructure that helps supply water to the City of Altus.

"Each of these projects is aimed at increasing the redundancy of the supply of water to the city and increasing the overall amount of water the city and its customers can access," said Brian Bush, President and CEO of the Altus Chamber of Commerce. "They are also aimed at improving the quality of the water supply by reducing the TTHM levels. Once the projects are completed, we will have access to more water and the end product will be TTHM-compliance, which is important to the residents of our city and the base."

Altus AFB residents consume the same water as residents in the City of Altus. The projects will collectively help reduce the amount of TTHMs in the city and base's water supply.

"Right now, the city's plan is to blend one-third well water, one-third conventional water and one-third reverse-osmosis treated water," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel Burdick, NCO in charge of the 97th MDG bio-environmental flight. "They expect this to reduce the bi-product amounts by two-thirds of the current amount."

After the projects are completed and tests confirm that the amount of TTHMs is below the regulatory limit, there will be a series of tests to ensure that the water quality remains within the standards.

"Once we are below the bi-product limits, we will have to continue to test the water quarterly until we have four consecutive test results that average below the 80 parts-per-billion bi-product limit before we can officially say we are in the clear," said Burdick.