| Updated: 7/30/2012 10:32 am |
Published: 7/30/2012 10:30 am
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The City of Tulsa and the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority have begun the process of treating the city’s drinking water with chlorine and chloramine.
The new treatment is to meet new, stricter Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Because of the nature of the city’s water distribution process, individual residences will receive the water at different times.
Before this change, the city has used only chlorine as its primary and secondary disinfectants in the water system. Chlorine will still be used as the primary disinfectant at the water treatment plant and chloramine will now be used as the secondary disinfectant in the water distribution system.
Chloramine is already used by many cities in the region, including Oklahoma City, Norman, Sand Springs, Denver, Dallas, Fort Worth and St. Louis.
Using chloramine will allow Tulsa to meet the EPA’s new, mandatory Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts Rule, which went into effect in 2012. The City of Tulsa could be financially penalized if it is not in compliance with EPA regulations.
In the months leading up to the addition of Chloramine, dialysis providers, fish suppliers and the public have been given information through direct mailings, utility bill stuffers and public meetings.
Chloramine, like chlorine, must be removed from the water before being used in dialysis machines or being added to fish tanks or ponds.
