Central Marina and Ord Community Water Quality
Water quality is diligently monitored by Marina
Coast Water District. Before the water reaches your tap, samples
from
wells,
water
treatment plants, and point-of-use locations have been collected
and tested in state certified laboratories. This regular program
of water analysis and prudent system operation and maintenance
ensures that you receive drinking water of the highest quality
possible. Your water meets and surpasses both state and federal
standards. It is also important that we provide you with accurate
and easy to understand water quality information. So please
review the summaries in the Water Quality Reports above.
The Marina and Ord water supply comes mainly from groundwater
wells. Water pumped from the source wells is generally clean
and clear. It is disinfected with chlorine as a safeguard against
microorganisms. In Marina, chlorine also treats the naturally
occurring sulfides that can cause odor. Up to thirteen per cent
of the water supply in Marina may come from seawater desalination.
The District's state-certified laboratory performs extensive
water quality monitoring of the Marina and Ord's drinking water
supply. Regulations require that we monitor for coliform bacteria
in the distribution system every week. The presence of coliform
bacteria may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms.
One water sample from each of five sampling sites in Marina and
from each of five in Ord is collected and analyzed each week.
A different set of five is analyzed each week in a month for
each water system. There are a total of twenty different sample
sites in Marina and twenty different sample sites in the Ord
community from which water samples are collected.
To make sure that water quality is maintained from the source
to your tap, the District laboratory also performs weekly monitoring
of general physical and chemical parameters. Each week we collect
five water samples from the Marina and Ord coliform sampling
sites, from the Marina and Ord source wells, from the
water reservoirs in Marina, and rom the Intermediate and Sand Tanks in Ord. The water samples are tested for
color, odor, turbidity, temperature, pH, conductivity, free chlorine
residual and sulfides. In addition, the Marina and Ord source
wells and water reservoirs are also tested for chloride, fluoride, nitrate, bromide
and sulfate. The purpose of this monitoring is to detect any
abnormal concentrations that might indicate problems within the
system. Weekly monitoring helps us identify and remedy problems
more quickly.
The State requires that we monitor water quality at different
stages of the Marina Desalination Plant treatment processes.
We collect water samples from the ocean (Monterey Bay), its seawater
intake well and its finished product water, daily, weekly, monthly
or quarterly. Water samples are tested for coliform organisms,
free chlorine residual, pH, turbidity, conductivity, total dissolved
solids, temperature, chloride, sulfate, alkalinity, hardness
and corrosive index. This monitoring program ensures that the
desalination plant is operating properly and is producing water
that meets or exceeds state and federal standards.
The District and our state certified contract laboratory monitor
compliance for over 110 constituents in drinking water in varying
schedules. Many of these constituents are naturally occurring
substances. The Marina and Ord's source wells and Marina's reservoirs
and the desalination plant are tested for general minerals such
as calcium, magnesium, hardness; inorganic chemicals such as
arsenic, chromium and other metals; organic chemicals such as
solvents, pesticides and herbicides; radioactivity including
radon; asbestos and other chemicals that are still not regulated
and have no state or federal standards. Regulations also require
that we test for disinfection by- products such as total trihalomethanes
and haloacetic acids in the distribution system. Lead and copper
are tested from indoor water samples to check if materials used
in your home or building plumbing contribute to levels of lead
and copper.