McAlester issues boil order for city water

<br>MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ The city's water exceeded federal regulations for cloudiness in January and February, state officials said. <br><br>The violation of new Environmental Protection Agency

Wednesday, March 13th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) _ The city's water exceeded federal regulations for cloudiness in January and February, state officials said.

The violation of new Environmental Protection Agency rules for water turbidity, or cloudiness, means the city must warn residents to boil their water before drinking it, even though the water is now back in compliance with the federal standard.

Although the boil order is legally required, there is nothing wrong with the water, City Manager Randy Green said.

``It doesn't make sense to issue a boil order in March for water that was consumed in January,'' he said.

The EPA changed the acceptable turbidity levels after finding that excessive turbidity levels could interfere with disinfection, according to DEQ spokesman Michael Dean. The DEQ is responsible for enforcing federal and state environmental laws.

The city's water plant used a polymer chemical to help settle solids suspended in water. The chemical formerly used at the plant wasn't effective enough to meet the new requirements.

The city has now switched to a new polymer that is more effective and has reduced the turbidity levels to well below the federal standard.

The boil order is to remain in effect until the city has met the new turbidity standards for one solid month.