By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
Starting Tuesday, May 20th the City of Salina's utilities department will make a temporary adjustment to the disinfection process, for healthy drinking water.
According to the City, this process will last until Saturday, June 7th. This is meant to maintain high quality in the water distribution system. This process consists of turning off the ammonia feed and increasing the free chlorine feed in order to maintain a consistent disinfection level throughout the water distribution system.
Ammonia is a chemical compound made of hydrogen and nitrogen. Studies show that stopping the ammonia feed will allow the nitrogen cycle to “catch up” with the nutrient load. A 25% to 50% water change will help remove some ammonia, assuming the incoming water source does not contain ammonia, which is helpful (Francis-Floyd, Watson, Petty, Pouder, n.d.).
Free Chlorine refers to the amount of chlorine in the water available to sanitize and kill harmful bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. This type of chlorine is the most reactive form, meaning it is available to react with and neutralize contaminants in the water, killing bacteria (King, 2014).
The City states that throughout this process, customers may notice a strong chlorine taste or odor of chlorine in their tap water. However, these temporary conditions are normal during the modified disinfection process and will not cause adverse health effects. If you are sensitive to the taste or odor of chlorine, the City recommends that you keep an open container of drinking water in your refrigerator for a few hours to allow the chlorine to vanish.
On Tuesday, May 27th the City plans on performing an annual flushing of fire hydrants. More information to come out soon.
If you have any questions concerning these flushing activities, you can call a Utilities Department representative at 785-826-7305.
References:
Francis-Floyd, R., Watson, C., Petty, D., & Pouder, B. D., (n.d.). "Ammonia in Aquatic Systems." Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FA031
King, J., (2014). "When to Measure Free Chlorine vs Total Chlorine | Expert Tips." Retrieved from https://www.ysi.com/ysi-blog/water-blogged-blog/2024/04/free-chlorine-vs-total-chlorine-when-to-measure-what#:~:text=Free%20chlorine%20refers%20to%20the,%2D)%20when%20added%20to%20water.