Written by Thom Tackman, Kasco Marine Certified Water Operator (aka the guy with the hat!)

As a water treatment plant operator, with experience operating in Arizona, Illinois, and most recently in Missouri, my responsibility was to efficiently operate the surface water treatment plant(s) and to make sure they met all regulatory requirements. Over the past 45 years, I’ve completed hours of routine water quality testing, verifying that the water leaving the plant met regulatory requirements. And I don’t ever remember a single positive coliform sample leaving the water treatment facility. Throughout my experience, I’ve tried countless ways to ensure my drinking water was of high quality. By far, the best, most efficient and effective way I’ve found is by using an active water storage tank mixer.

Finding Inconsistency in Stored Water Quality

In Arizona, my water quality team members completed routine sampling in our distribution system for chlorine and coliform bacteria. Occasionally, we would get a positive sample in the distribution system with a measurable free chlorine residual. Immediately, we would resample again, and most of the time, the check sample would indicate no coliform bacteria. And we would also hold weekly water taste tests and normally the water tasted okay, but then there were times when the water tasted earthly or musty. Occasionally, we would even smell chlorine and hydrogen sulfide (i.e. a rotten egg odor).

Water quality and customer complaints are important. All city councils I worked with took both very seriously. It was a top priority for us to ensure that the water exiting the surface water treatment and our groundwater wells were good quality. So, we elected to look closer at our distribution and water storage tanks to see if we could improve the consistency in our water quality at the customer tap.