Yorktown to Improve Drinking Water Monitoring
The Town of Yorktown will install a new monitoring device to enhance the accuracy of drinking water testing.
The Yorktown Consolidated Water District will install a sample station near the Crompond Road water main in order to obtain samples that are more representative of the system’s water quality.
The new sample station is a response to a recent water-quality violation. Water samples are collected quarterly at four approved locations and tested for disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Disinfectants (chlorine) can react with naturally occurring materials in the water to form DBPs. On May 5, a water sample was collected at 2279 Crompond Road (the Yorktown Central Garage) and it tested high for one particular DBP: monochloroacetic acid, a haloacetic acid (HAA5).
“This deficiency was found in stagnant water in a pipe feeding a mostly empty public building during the height of the pandemic lockdown. This stagnant water was not consumed by any residences or businesses,” Supervisor Matt Slater said. “When the town received the violation notice, we immediately took steps in conjunction with New York State and Westchester County health officials to ensure that our water sampling is taken from a water main that is more representative of water usage in our community.”
Upon receiving the violation notice, the Yorktown Consolidated Water District resampled the site in question. The results showed that the level of monochloroacetic acid was back to its typical level, below the detectable limit of two parts per billion. (A detailed description of the water quality violation is posted on the town’s website.)
HAAs can be formed in drinking water during treatment by chlorine (the most commonly used disinfectant in New York State), which may react with certain acids that are in naturally-occurring organic material (e.g., decomposing vegetation such as tree leaves, algae, or other aquatic plants) in surface water sources such as rivers and lakes.
The amount of HAAs in drinking water can change from day to day, depending on the temperature, the amount of organic material in the water, the amount of chlorine added, and a variety of other factors. Drinking water is disinfected by public water suppliers to kill bacteria and viruses that could cause serious illnesses.
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