Utah is in good shape to meet new federal drinking water standards, say two of the state's top experts.
The standards, announced Thursday by President Clinton, set limits to turbidity of water released by treatment plants and to the chlorine byproducts called trihalomethanes that are left in water after it is cleaned. In both areas, Utah is doing well -- at least as far as the big urban treatment systems are concerned.However, cautioned Kevin W. Brown, director of the State Division of Drinking Water, and David Ovard, general manager of the Salt Lake County Water Conservancy District, it is possible that rural systems could violate the new rules.
"With the smaller treatment plants out there, we don't know right now . . . if there's going to be a problem," Brown said. Because state drinking water sources generally are clean to begin with, he doubts there will be problems, "but right now we really don't know."
Added Ovard, "Generally, older plants using older technology would have more of a concern than our area here."
The two standards are related:
Turbidity reduces the effectiveness of chlorine, which is added to water to kill bacteria and other harmful agents in the water. If the water is less turbid, less chlorine is needed.
Trihalomethanes can cause cancer in lab animals. These chlorine byproducts are left after water is treated, and the standards intend to keep the amount in water at a safe level. The more chlorine used, the greater the chance that the level of trihalomethanes would be too high.
According to Brown, EPA officials have been working on the new standards for a long time, and the state has been aware of the proposals. "Fortunately, Utah's surface water sources, because they're coming from mountainous areas . . . don't have a lot of organic materials." That means they need little disinfecting.
"Fortunately, we're in pretty good shape."
Testing already carried out has detected no problems.
Ovard said the turbidity standard will change from .5 turbidity units to .1 unit, as targets for water after treatment. The larger the unit, the more turbid.
The district's two plants -- the largest in the state, the Jordan Valley Water Treatment Plant in Bluffdale, and a smaller one in the Sandy region, the Southeastern Regional Water Treatment Plant -- produce water that is already within the standards.
"We're very fortunate. Our surface waters generally are high quality compared with water on the national level," he said.
During a high spring runoff or following a thunderstorm -- when waters are turbid -- the district might just let streams flow past.
The new standards are supposed to keep trihalomethanes to below 80 parts per million. "Our treatment plants generally operate in the range of 40 to 60 parts per million, so we're already below that standard," Ovard said.
The White House also announced grants and loans to help states improve water delivery systems. But Brown said the money has been in the pipeline since 1996, and in fact, Utah has already begun spending its share from 1997.
Clinton on Thursday announced that $775 million included in the fiscal 1999 federal budget provides low-interest loans to local governments that must upgrade facilities to bring them into compliance. Another $93.8 million is being released to state drinking-water monitoring and enforcement programs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.