Tapping into Sisters' good-quality water

The City of Sisters is serious about its water. That's a point that's crystal clear in the city's public works department.

According to City of Sisters Public Works Department Special Projects Coordinator Paul Bertagna, the municipality operates a groundwater system that has passed its twice-monthly testing for the Oregon Health Department (OHD) with flying colors for as long as he can remember.

With concerns over public water safety due to a recent outbreak of salmonella in Alamosa, Colorado in March that sickened over 300 people and was linked to that city's municipal water supply, it's a good idea to check out for yourself what water is safe to drink and what you're really getting in each sip of the clear calorie-free beverage.

While we'd all like to know that what we drink from the tap is pure (no contaminants, nothing added), if it comes from Mother Nature it's not. Our tap water does some traveling before it reaches our ground water system.

In the journey it picks up minerals and lots of other things that leach in from the ground. That's where the public works department comes in - and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA oversees the OHD, which actually regulates the City of Sisters' water system.

The City of Sisters has three wells. One is brand new this year, and the other two date to 1972. The pipes in the system are about 60 years old.

It is easy for a citizen to review the city's water quality reports.

Visit the City of Sisters' Web site (www.ci.sisters.or.us), head to the Public Works Department, click on water quality reports in the lefthand column, then click on "2007 Water Quality Report."

A more detailed (perhaps more than you'll ever want to know about our water) report can be had by visiting the OHD Web site: http://www.dhs.state.or.us/publichealth/dwp. Click on Data Online, then WS Name Look up; type in "Sisters," and you will find everything you ever could imagine about the water you drink.

While many people prefer bottled water, it is not necessarily better than Sisters' tap water.

In an independent testing of over 1,000 bottles of water conducted over a four-year review of the bottle water industry and the safety standards that govern it, the National Resources Defense Council answers the question "Isn't bottled water safer than tap water?"

"No, not necessarily," they report. "Our conclusion is that there is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle it is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap. And in fact, an estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle - sometimes further treated, sometimes not. Check the bottle label and even the cap - if it says 'from a municipal source' or 'from a community water system' this means it's derived from tap water."

Wells that serve 25 people or less are not regulated or subjected to the EPA standards. Some 15 percent of Americans rely on their own private drinking water supplies and in Sisters that figure is much, much higher. The responsibility of a private well resides with the homeowner.

What can you do to ensure your well water is the best around? Test the water every year for total coliform bacteria, nitrates, total dissolved solids, and ph levels.

Identify potential problems: Is there livestock nearby? Are pesticides being used on nearby agricultural crops? Do you use lawn fertilizers near the well? Is your well "downstream" from your neighbor's septic system? Is your well located near a road that is frequently sprayed with de-icers during winter?

For more information call the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline 1-800-426-4791 or visit http://www.epa.gov/safewater/privatewells/faq.html, Oregon State University Extension Services publication "Keeping Your Well Water Well," and the Water Systems Council at http://www.wellcarehotline.org.

Several city employees are certified in the Oregon Drinking Water Program. If you're curious about the safety of our tap water just stroll on over to the public works department and see what they are drinking.