Most people don’t give much thought when turning on the faucet, but many individuals are involved in providing fresh, clean drinking water to the Rochelle community.
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ROCHELLE — Most people don’t give much thought when turning on the faucet, but many individuals are involved in providing fresh, clean drinking water to the Rochelle community.
Between three and five million gallons of water are pumped each day from five deep wells located between 800 and 1,500 feet below the surface. The water is stored in the four water towers and pumped through 105 miles of water mains within the city.
Employees work behind the scenes to ensure the water delivered to consumers meets all federal and state standards, tested every day by four water operators at 30 different sampling sites throughout the city.
Water/Water Reclamation Superintendent Adam Lanning explained as the water is pumped, fluoride is added along with chlorine to kill any disease-causing pathogens that could be in the water.
“Recently we have reevaluated our sampling plan to maintain minimum chlorine levels throughout the city,” Lanning said. “We have to maintain chlorine levels at the farthest points of the city and had to adjust the dosages to maintain those minimum levels.”
Lanning explained the water department maintains levels that fall under the maximum allowable amount in a public water supply.
Aside from the water operators testing in the field, lab employees also conduct tests. The Environmental Protection Agency also determines how often these tests are to be conducted, mostly quarterly and yearly.