Monterey County Water Pollution: Who Is Responsible?

Monterey One Water ensures efficient water resource management while maintaining sustainability and environmental stewardiness, delivering reliable water and wastewater services. The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District (MPWMD) and the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA) jointly developed the Pure Water Monterey project, which uses advanced water purification to produce high-quality drinking water. This project will reduce the amount of water taken from the Carmel River and the Seaside Basin and will provide a source of treated water for the Salinas Valley agricultural industry, helping to reduce the effects of seawater intrusion.

Pure Water Monterey

The One Water approach views all water, including drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, greywater, and more, as a valuable resource that must be managed sustainably. This means that Pure Water Monterey relies on multiple entities, including local government, businesses, and residents, to work together to move through the cycle of water reuse. By doing so, the project can provide purified potable water for domestic use and irrigation in the Salinas Valley, one of California's most fertile agricultural areas.

The use of advanced water recycling technology is a key component of Pure Water Monterey. This technology allows for the treatment and purification of various types of water, making it suitable for different purposes. For example, recycled water can be used for irrigation, industrial processes, or even drinking water if it undergoes advanced treatment processes. This helps to reduce the demand for freshwater sources and protects the environment by minimising water extraction from natural sources.

Water recycling

Sources of water for potential reuse include municipal wastewater, industry process and cooling water, stormwater, agricultural runoff, and produced water from natural resource extraction activities. These sources are treated to meet specific "fit-for-purpose specifications" to ensure public health, environmental protection, and user needs.

Water purification

The first step in water purification is often the addition of chemicals to assist in removing particles suspended in the water. This is followed by coagulation, where chemicals are added to the water to help bind together dirt and other small particles. Flocculation is the next step, where the water is mixed and coagulated, allowing the flocs to settle to the bottom of the water. The clear water on top then goes through several filters to remove germs, including parasites, bacteria, and viruses, as well as dissolved particles such as dust and chemicals.

The specific methods used in water purification depend on the size and severity of the contamination, but standardized practices ensure general compliance with national and international regulations. Pretreatment is an important part of the process, where biological contaminants, chemicals, and other materials are removed from the water. Screening, which is part of pretreatment, removes large debris such as sticks, leaves, and trash from the water to be treated. This step is particularly important for purifying surface water from lakes and rivers.

Another aspect of pretreatment is preconditioning, where water with high mineral content (hard water) is treated with sodium carbonate to force out calcium carbonate. Preconditioning alters the consistency of hard water to make it similar to soft water, preventing mineral deposits from clogging pipes. Prechlorination, which is often the final step of pretreatment, involves applying chlorine to raw water containing high concentrations of natural organic matter. However, this process can result in the formation of disinfection by-products.

The quality of water that must be achieved through purification is typically set by government agencies, with standards in place to ensure maximum concentrations of harmful contaminants are not exceeded. To assess water quality and contamination levels, multiple processes such as physical, chemical, or biological analyses are used to test for various parameters, including levels of organic and inorganic chemicals, microbial pathogens, radioactive materials, and dissolved and suspended solids.

Water quality

The City Council of Monterey Park meets regularly, allowing the public to express their views and participate in decisions that may impact water quality. These meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 7 p.m. at 320 West Newmark Avenue, Monterey Park. The council encourages public participation in these important discussions.

Additionally, Monterey County has hosted public meetings in coordination with the State Water Resources Control Board's Division of Drinking Water. These meetings provided valuable information on how agencies work together to evaluate land use and water system applications. They also offered insights into the options available for non-compliant water systems to meet water quality objectives and be considered viable sources for new land use entitlements.

To ensure safe drinking water, Monterey County has implemented requirements that new or existing public water systems must meet to be considered viable sources for land use entitlement applications. These requirements are essential to safeguard public health and maintain the quality of water that residents of Monterey County rely on for their daily needs.

Overall, the county and its individual cities, such as Monterey Park, demonstrate a proactive approach to water quality management, keeping residents informed and involved in the process. This commitment to transparency and public participation is essential to maintaining the high standards of water quality that the county strives for.

Drinking water standards

In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for ensuring that public water supplies are safe. The EPA sets and enforces standards and regulations to limit harmful germs and chemicals in tap water. These standards are outlined in the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), which was passed by Congress in 1974 to protect the nation's public drinking water.

The SDWA gives individual states the opportunity to set and enforce their own drinking water standards, as long as they are at least as stringent as the EPA's national standards. The EPA also uses the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Program to collect data for contaminants suspected to be in drinking water but that do not have health-based standards set under the SDWA. Every five years, the EPA reviews the list of contaminants, known as the Contaminant Candidate List, and decides whether to develop rules limiting those specific contaminants in tap water.

The National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) are legally enforceable primary standards and treatment techniques that apply to public water systems. These regulations protect public health by limiting the levels of contaminants in drinking water. The Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) is the highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water, and it is set based on the Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG), which is the level below which there is no known or expected risk to health. The MCL takes into account the best available treatment technology and cost.

The EPA's surface water treatment rules require systems using surface water or groundwater under the direct influence of surface water to meet certain criteria, such as controlling contaminants like Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia. The Long Term 1 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule applies to systems serving fewer than 10,000 people, while the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule targets additional Cryptosporidium treatment requirements for higher-risk systems.

The National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations are guidelines to help utilities manage tap water issues that are not related to health. Utilities are required to notify their customers if their water quality does not meet EPA standards and provide a water quality report at least once a year.

Frequently asked questions