FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MONDAY, JUNE 4, 2018 12:00 PM
From Dan McIntosh,
SIRWA General Manager and Creston Water Works Treatment Plant Manager
For more information call:
SIRWA
641-782-5744
SOUTHERN IOWA RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION
Drinking Water Warning Status
The City of Creston Water Works (CCWW), Southern Iowa Rural Water Association (SIRWA), Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Suez Water Technologies, the filtration membrane supplier, met at the 12-Mile Treatment Plant this morning, Monday, June 4th, at 10:00 AM. Below is the “Best Case Scenario” time frame for receiving the new membranes:
- One Trane (1/4th of treatment plant capacity) is in Canada
- It takes 2 days to get EPA approval to bring the membranes into the USA. Approval should be received by Tuesday, late afternoon or evening.
- The truck will leave Canada Tuesday night or Wednesday morning
- The truck will arrive at 12-Mile Treatment Plant Thursday night or Friday morning
- The second set of membranes is scheduled to arrive in Canada tomorrow, Tuesday, June 6. Following the same procedures as above, the second set of membranes should arrive in Iowa approximately 24 hours behind the first set of membranes. We need both sets of membranes before we can produce the needed water for the City of Creston and SIRWA.
- We hope to have both of the new membranes tranes online and producing water sometime on Saturday or early Sunday Morning.
Both CCWW and SIRWA will then begin the flushing process to change out the water in the distribution systems.
Each membrane trane is capable of 2,000 GPM or 4,000 GPM combined maximum. We are in hopes to start the flushing process late Saturday or early Sunday. We need to get the three, Creston water towers drained and refilled with the newly treated water. Creston will then flush their water distribution system while the new water is filling SIRWA’s large distribution mains.
We are using fluoride to track the treated water through the distribution mains. Once the newly treated water is dispersed, coliform bacteria samples will be taken to make sure the water is potable or drinkable. Once these tests are passed we can release the specified customers from the “Drinking Water Advisory.”
As cities get removed from the “Drinking Water Advisory,” we would ask that the customers be considerate and only use necessary water so that all extra water can be used to flush and get water to the remaining cities who may still be under the “Drinking Water Advisory.” We would ask that no lawn watering, car washing or unnecessary water usage be preformed until all customers have been removed from the “Drinking Water Advisory.”
We are currently checking into the availability of a third and fourth set of membrane tranes. The membranes are made in Hungary and shipped to the distribution center in Canada where they are then shipped to the USA under normal circumstances.
If you are a City of Creston Water Works (CCWW) customer, please contact them to be added to their list for future notifications at 641-782-5817 or e-mail at officeww@iowatelecom.net.
If you are a SIRWA customer, you may contact the office at 641-782-5744 or send an email to info@siwa.org.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our customers. Please stay tuned to your local news papers, radio and television stations, and our website at www.sirwa.org for further updates.