Hollister’s water is notoriously hard and can be, at various
times, murky and smelly, but the city’s annual Drinking Water
Quality Report shows that it is safe to drink.
Hollister’s water is notoriously hard and can be, at various times, murky and smelly, but the city’s annual Drinking Water Quality Report shows that it is safe to drink.
The more than 6,000 customers who received the eight-page report in recent weeks used more than 930 million gallons of water in 2010, an average of 8,835 gallons per single family residence each month.
“Water from our wells is good quality in that it meets all standards, but it tends to be higher in mineral content than surface water because it comes from aquifers in the ground where minerals are deposited naturally,” said Jim Hart, a utility technician with the City of Hollister and author of the report.
The report noted that the city’s water system had no violations in 2010 and meets all federal and state water quality requirements.
“We’ve shown through our monitoring and testing program that although some contaminants are detectable, they occur below maximum allowable levels,” the report stated.
“The main taste, and to some extent, odor issues are related to the chlorination process which is a disinfection process required by regulation,” Hart said. “A very simple way to make water taste better is by removing the chlorine residual through a simple filter on the end of a faucet or by using a water pitcher that filters water you pour into it. You can also get a filter installed at your house that filters out the fine sediment typically found in municipal water systems.”
The cloudiness in Hollister water is often a result of air bubbles that escape from the faucet when the water is forced through the 45-mile system under pressure.
“If you let a glass of water sit for a couple of minutes, it will turn clear,” Hart said.
The amount of water consumption has decreased in recent years for various reasons, Hart said, ranging from economic factors to water conservation efforts.
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday.
