When residents get their water from the tap, they expect it to be safe.
But how can they actually know?
Each year, localities publish a public water quality report to keep residents informed on one of the most valuable resources. This year, Williamsburg’s water quality report found that local water was in compliance with the Virginia Department of Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
“Generally speaking, the water remains pretty constant for us,” said Dan Clayton, director of Public Works and Utilities for the city.
In James City County’s most current report from 2017, there were also no high levels of contaminants found.
Ronnie Peapealalo, a representative for the county, said there was no date for when the 2018 report would be published.
Mike Vergakis, chief water engineer for the county, did not immediately respond for comment.
However, that doesn’t mean there are zero contaminants in residents’ water. According to the report, all drinking water, including bottled water, contains some amount of contaminants.
To keep these levels down, the EPA has regulations on the amount of certain contaminants in public water systems.
In James City County’s water report, it lists possible contaminants as microbial, like viruses and bacteria, inorganic contaminants like salt and metal, or pesticides and herbicides. These contaminants can enter the water stream through various means — sewage or storm water runoff.
While the process to maintain clean drinking water has many different steps, both localities have similar routines.
Water treatment in James City County starts through aquifers and then a federally approved disinfectant is provided before entering the distribution center. In Williamsburg there is aluminum sulfate coagulation and filtration that removes certain organisms and then, just like with the county, a disinfectant is added.
Williamsburg’s and James City County’s various water systems are different both in location and capacity, however.
In James City County the public water source comes through a central water system. This consists of the Five Forks Water Treatment Facility, seven water production facilities, two elevated water storage facilities and two booster pump facilities.
For Williamsburg, the main water source comes from the Waller Mill Reservoir, from which the city withdraws water and treats it for distribution through a network of pipes throughout the city.
Waller Mill Reservoir is a 350-acre lake that has held 1.5 billion gallons of water since 1945 located in York County. But the piping infrastructure, sections of which date back to the 1940s-1950s, remains in good condition and is upgraded, replaced as needed, Clayton said.
That system has held up well since then, he said, because the piping is built to withstand pressure since it is so thick. Another added benefit of maintaining the system is that there a very few extensions in Williamsburg, he said.
In James City County, there were 2.6 miles of pipelines developed that added 139 connections and 434 new customer to the system in 2017.
While James City County maintains a much larger population, which might require more extensions, Williamsburg caters to a smaller cluster of customers. However, this doesn’t necessarily benefit the water quality, said city spokeswoman Lee Ann Hartmann. Instead, it is more dependent on the water source as opposed to the piping system.
