LISE water system has returned to drinking water turbidity standards

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We are happy to report our water system is no longer violating turbidity standards in your drinking water.

Turbidity measurements have remained below 0.3 turbidity units for the month of December, 2019 to present. However, we need to notify you that turbidity treatment requirements were not met from August to November 2019.

“Thank you for your extreme effort as you respond to LISECC’s higher turbidity measurements. Your ability to collect data and refine your hypotheses, and your commitment to get to the root cause is remarkable. You are doing an excellent job responding to your higher turbidity numbers.”

— Laura McLaughlin, PE, Regional Engineer,
Office of Drinking Water, State of Washington Department of Health

Important Information About Your Drinking Water

Turbidity Treatment Requirements Not Met, August – November 2019

Lummi Island Scenic Estates Community Club (LISECC) ID #43290 - Whatcom County

Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this situation does not require that you should take immediate action, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct the situation.

We routinely monitor your water for turbidity (cloudiness). This tells us whether we are effectively filtering the water supply. Water samples from August to November 2019 showed that more than 5 percent of turbidity measurements were over 0.3 turbidity units – the standard is that no more than 5 percent of samples may exceed 0.3 turbidity units per month. The turbidity levels are relatively low. However, their persistence during this period is a concern. Normal turbidity levels at our plant are 0.1 turbidity units.

Percentage of measurements over 0.3 turbidity units

August: 8.3%
September: 23.3%
October: 55.8%
November: 35.2%

December: 0% of turbidity measurements exceeded 0.3 turbidity units

What should I do?

  • You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions. However, if you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor.

  • People with severely compromised immune systems, infants, and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 (800) 426-4791.

What does this mean?

Turbidity has no health effects. However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, virus, and parasites that can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches. The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice.

What happened?

The quality of our reservoir water changed during the summer and fall. During this period our treatment process became less effective, resulting in higher turbidity in the drinking water.

What is being done?

We were able to improve filter performance by slowing down our rate of filtration and changing our coagulants. LISECC has contracted with an engineering firm to improve and upgrade our treatment plant. This upgrade will include modern plant controls that will automate the plant in line with compliance requirements. During this project we will be working closely with the Department of Health.

Our treatment plant historically filters water at better than optimum performance goals: less than 0.1 turbidity units 95% of the time. LISECC received the Washington State Department of Health Gold Certificate of Achievement in June 2018 for reaching this goal for 10 years. We continue to work on this issue and are committed to get back to that higher standard.

For more information, please contact Kevin Southworth, Operations Manager
phone: (360) 758-7055
email: kevin@lisecc.com
mailing address: 1211 Island Drive, Lummi Island, WA 98262