Contaminated water supply

Earlier today I ran across a post mentioning in Tuckerman Arkansas their water supply had been contaminated. The post said the water had a ph level of 11 and she was warned by a sheriffs deputy not to drink the water after people came into the ER.

The area is right along the areas in this thread that have been seeing a lot of recent earthquake activity, and they also have a lot of natural gas operations in the area and the documentary Gasland immediately came to mind.

I'm actively trying to find out any information on the situation, and find out why exactly the water has been contaminated. But it is a city supply, and not wells that are contaminated.

I found a youtube video from Feb. of this year showing brown water through the faucet, here are a few other links in regards and I'll update if I find any more information.

Are there any members from this part of Arkansas that could provide some more information?



Tuckerman, Arkansas Local News Forum

i don't know if this thread is any good to you-

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by ThaLoccster


Thanks for the nod to my thread, and this is very disturbing indeed!

Also, my whole family recently moved not too far from there on the Missouri/Arkansas border.

A pH of 11 is an extremely alkaline (opposite of acidic) water supply. Alkalinity could come from a variety of mineral sources. I wonder if something shifted underground and caused this?

reply to post by getreadyalready


I have been trying to find if there is a connection between whats going on with the water and the earthquake activity there.

I live in Arkansas and while I don't really live near where this is occuring, it is still pretty interesting for me.

There was a city meeting scheduled on the 22nd in regards to the water supply and aging system, it has been rescheduled for tomorrow.

I'll continue to update with any information I can find out, hopefully theres atleast one member from that area that could shed some further light on the situation.

Looking on Facebook, I searched tuckerman water and set it to posts by everyone, here is the link to the search results....

Facebook tuckerman water search (you need to select "Posts by everyone" at the bottom left)

Heres an image found on facebook...



Apparently city officials are saying there is too much softener in the water.

reply to post by ThaLoccster


Too much softener would give it an alkaline condition. But to get to the level of an 11 would require a runaway system pumping continual amounts of softener into it. It is doubtful that this would go unnoticed for more than a couple of hours, and it would quickly be diluted. There is no way that it would linger on for days and days. The system would run out of the softener agent very quickly if it was just pumping wildly.

It could be a result of a well acidizing. They may have added chemicals to take out the acid.

Well this has been going on since atleast Feb. as the youtube link in the OP shows.

I'm curious as to the cause and what will come of the city meeting tomorrow.

My father's a plumber. I've worked on many job sites with him over the years. The brown water in the video could be sediment which was built up over a period of time and released all at once. It can happen naturally coming from the water heater or the pipe itself, and can be spontaneously released or happen after having someone banging the pipes a bit. Most likely after having repair work done. When we turn off the water for a while, then turn it back on, we usually run the water for several minutes to get the sediment out. As for the 11 ph !! That's pretty hardcore. I'm fairly certain the ph around my area is much more acidic like around 3 ph.

reply to post by unityemissions


Would that be the case for virtually every house in town?

I have had brown water before at my house that was a result of internal lines or hot water heater issues. But not brown water coming from the water supply itself.

reply to post by ThaLoccster


No.

If every house in town which has brown water is also getting their water from the same water treatment facility, then I'd be sure to contact them ASAP. You can ask for water reports. I've been told that cities keep this data regularly updated, perhaps daily, but am not sure about towns and federal regulations.

It could possibly be that the main pipe which carries the town's water supply has a crack in the pipe and soil is leaking into the pipe, however, that would have to be a large pipe carrying 1,000+ homes water. I would suspect if this were the case, they'd already have figured this out, as the amount of water gushing out would create a scene unless it was in a very remote location.

[edit on 26-7-2010 by unityemissions]

Originally posted by ThaLoccster
reply to post by unityemissions

 

Would that be the case for virtually every house in town?

I have had brown water before at my house that was a result of internal lines or hot water heater issues. But not brown water coming from the water supply itself.

I agree with Unity. Brown water is no cause for concern. When they are working on water lines, they often disturb rust and sediment, and yes it will affect every home down the line from where they are working.

Now the pH being high is another issue entirely. I think Unity was mistaken that her pH is anywhere near 3. That would be equally concerning. pH should be between 6.5 and 7.5. 7.5 is preferable, but most cities add Flouride and Chlorine, and this causes the pH to be slightly acidic and a little bit under 7.0. To get to an 11, you have to have an extreme overabundance of OH- molecules available in the water. These molecules are just as damaging as the typical H+ that people are familiar with in strong acids. A pH of 3 or a pH of 11 would be equally damaging to pipes and to skin!

pH Table of common substances

11 would be a pure Ammonia!

3 would be a stronger than tomato juice and similar to vinegar. Seems harmless, but don't forget that Vinegar can dissolve stains, clean your coffeepot, and remove rust!

reply to post by getreadyalready


I used to test the ph for indoor growing. It's very low. A coke, or tea, or orange juice is between 2-3 ph. We put that stuff in our bodies constantly, and over time it kills us. It's just another reason to filter your water and have it ph balanced.

[edit on 26-7-2010 by unityemissions]

I do some instrumentation work for a water plant near me and have worked with them for over 10 years. I know the layout and how the whole process works pretty well. In order for anything to be added to the process after the plant, there would have to be a rupture in a pipe or a deliberate introduction of foreign substances at the reservoir. ( and by reservoir, I mean the finished water tank before the elevated tanks.)

The plant takes in raw water and treats/filters it. They have minimum specifications set up by state and federal guidelines. So the water leaving the plant would have to meet these minimum specs or they would have to report their deficiencies to the public. Google water quality report for your area.

Most often a plant will inject liquid/gaseous chlorine, alum, and fluoride into the water to bring it to drinking quality. It is then pumped to a clearwell. Form there, it gets pumped out to the elevated tanks. Their elevation provides the water pressure needed to pump out to households. It should be a completely sealed system since it is pressurized. Any big leaks should be easily detected. And it wold be very hard to have a chemical compound from the earth get into a ruptured pipe, as it would be pumping water out of the leak.

I am not at all sure how this could be done accidentally after the water plant's part.

I had a phone call. A recorded message saying it was the Sheriffs office on behalf of the Water Dept.

"All residents of Barnstable County, Hyannis, etc. Your water is contaminated and you may not drink it until further notice. Boil any water you will use until further notice. "I was without good water for a week.

Now the week after, my son who lives in Yarmouth, also got a call, same message.

What i'm trying to say is, maybe these could be DRILLS?????

We thought so at the time.

Originally posted by unityemissions
reply to post by getreadyalready

 

I used to test the ph for indoor growing. It's very low. A coke, or tea, or orange juice is between 2-3 ph. We put that stuff in our bodies constantly, and over time it kills us. It's just another reason to filter your water and have it ph balanced.

[edit on 26-7-2010 by unityemissions]

Very true! Sodas are probably the most damaging thing that we put in our bodies. Between the Carbonic and Phosphuric Acid, we are getting a very unhealthy dose of free radicals. It is bad for our tooth enamal, bad for our esophagus, bad for our digestive system, bad for our blood chemistry. Just plain BAD!

And here I sit drinking a Dr. Pepper?

reply to post by getreadyalready


Hypocrite!!

Just kidding. We're all hypocrites and liars to some extent...

Yeah, I actually managed to quit soda's entirely a few years back, and boy do I feel a lot healthier and think a lot clearer. My manic-depression is not nearly as severe.

..but I still got my vices. I like to smoke on something fanciful and drink on the bubbly a bit.

reply to post by dgtempe


dgtempe, when was your phone call, and where is your location?

I am in Florida, and I am on Well Water, not city water. BUT some of my neighbors got door notices to not drink water from their well. There was a boil order notice, and also a lifting of the notice on some of the doors. I assumed that the heavy rains had contaminated some of the wells. Apparently my particular street was unaffected? I didn't get either notice, and I am only 1 block away. Surely my well taps the same source as their well?

Anyhow, this just happened over the last couple of weeks. I have not checked my water, because I had just gotten it tested about 6 weeks ago, and it was fine.

if you are in doubt of your water, you can get a cheap pool test kit from Lowes or Wal Mart to find out what your PH is. (at least close)

Originally posted by network dude
if you are in doubt of your water, you can get a cheap pool test kit from Lowes or Wal Mart to find out what your PH is. (at least close)

My pH is good. I am more worried about potential bacteria or parasites. I get it tested about twice a year, but with the heavy Florida rains, the water quality changes day to day!

We have "Wakulla Springs" about 15 miles from me. It is the largest, deepest, and most cavernous spring in the United States. It is the 3rd largest in the world. I have another Spring System "Wacissa Springs" within about 5 miles of me. The aquifer here is ideal, the water is clear and tasty!

Still, there is a landfill up the road from me, and all of my neighbors are on septic systems. I don't know the depth of my well, so I don't know how concerned to be after a storm? Does the septic and landfill runoff get significantly close to my water source or not?