World Water Week wraps with thoughts on water filtration

As World Water Week wrapped up its 21st anniversary celebrations in Stockholm last month, Scientific American was reporting that New York City is just two months away from opening the world's largest ultraviolet (UV) drinking-water disinfection plant. When the lights go on in New York's new facility, 56 massive UV units will neutralize waterborne pathogens in all the drinking water coming from the city's major sources—the Delaware County and Catskill watersheds – processing up to nine billion liters daily and adding a second layer of sanitation to the chlorine treatment that has been applied for years. (see Turning on the Zap: New York City Readies World's Largest UVDrinking-Water Disinfection Plant)

According to the article on the Scientific American website, Trojan's operation will dwarf the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's Tesla Treatment Facility, which opened last July. That $114-million project is California's largest UV water disinfection facility, treating up to 1.2 billion liters of water per day for the Bay Area from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. (see $114 million Tesla project aids Hetch Hetchy water)

Here in Sonoma Valley – and Petaluma – our drinking water comes from either ground water sources or the Russian River system. If delivered through the Russian River system, the water is handled and treated by the Sonoma County WaterAgency (SCWA).

The water is first filtered naturally through the gravel river bed. According to the water agency’s web site, “water entering the collector wells is extremely clean and requires no additional treatment; however, chlorine is added as a precaution against possible contamination in the distribution system."

The water is also adjusted for pH. Again, from the SCWA, "The Russian River water has a natural pH of about 7.1 - 7.6. To reduce corrosion of lead and copper present in indoor plumbing fixtures, it is desirable to raise the pH of the river water to 8.3 - 8.5. The Water Agency operates pH Adjustment/Corrosion Control facilities, located at the Wohler pumping plant and at the chlorination facility, where sodium hydroxide is added to the water supply. This treatment helps reduce dissolved metal content entering the wastewater treatment plants in areas served by the Water Agency."

Water is distributed through some 79 miles of pipeline that runs from the Russian River to Santa Rosa, Cotati, Petaluma and Sonoma – and right out the openings in our faucets, etc. Some people like to add another layer of filtration in-home to remove the chlorine and other impurities that may be in the water and not removed by the County’s treatment.

If you have any questions about that, give us a call here at Boden Plumbing. We have a few recommendations if you’re interested. 707-996-8683.