By Melanie Escalante, The Hub@TTU
A file photo shows rain on a street.
After another scorching West Texas summer, the intensity of the dry heat has been alleviated with widespread rainfall and cooler temperatures this fall, and as rainfall increases and wind strengthens, so has runoff.
While not inherently an issue of concern, runoff poses a threat when it collects toxins, such as fertilizer, pesticides, bacteria and other pollutants. As it’s increasingly contributed as a local water source over the last couple months, many locals wonder one thing: How can they stay informed about the quality of the water pumped into their homes and public facilities across Lubbock?
Kayleigh Millerick — an assistant professor in Texas Tech’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering — said locals can rest assured that their water is safe, unless otherwise noted. As part of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the city is required to regularly test water, sometimes down to the hour, depending on the components.
Among the tested facilities are Lubbock’s Bailey County Well Field, Roberts County Well Field, Lake Alan Henry, Lake Meredith and other domestic wells.
“The hourly requirement is usually pathogen-related, and it’s going to be at the City of Lubbock Drinking Water Plant,” Millerick said. “Something that is going to be tested for annually, you’ll see them in your water reports that are on the City of Lubbock Utilities website, those are going to be things like heavy metals that they’re testing for.”
Ensuring safe drinking water
According to the City of Lubbock Texas website, the drinking water analysis from 2017 to 2021 represents contaminant sources: erosion of natural deposits, soil runoff, fertilizer runoff, decay of natural deposits, by-product of drinking water disinfection, by-product of drinking water chlorination, factory discharge or natural occurrence.
Jonathan Pool, founder of Weston Water Well Drilling & Service, said one of the top concerns of well construction in Texas is the mitigation of contamination by top ground pollutants.
As a result, construction specifications require that builders place a non-permeable bentonite seal between the well casing and annular space to prevent contaminants from infiltrating the water. Then, when drilling a well, they must make sure they are entering a formation that is viable, and if it is not, they are required to report it, Pool said.
If unsure of whether water is injurious or not, locals can take a sample to one of the multiple testing facilities in Lubbock — including that on the Texas Tech campus.
“The only way to know for sure is to drill a well, case it, put a pump in it and pump the water for an extended period of time until all drilling fluids — anything top ground that could’ve entered during the drilling process — is flushed out, the well is disinfected for bacteria and then you can take a water test down to a facility,” Pool said.
In addition to top ground pollutants, professor Millerick adds that there are other various components of water that individuals should not consume, including organic chemicals, biological chemicals, and inorganic chemicals, such as chromium — a toxic heavy metal that can dissolve naturally in certain waters.
She noted that if we are not careful, we will continue to consume those chemicals in our drinking water or through the accumulation in plants, and many of these organic compounds are associated with cancers.
“And then you have biological agents, and these are probably some of the ones that get the most attention, because they make you sick right away, and there’s a few things like e. coli — some pathogenic strains of e. coli, as well as viruses that can be present in waters,” Millerick said.
The difference between primary contaminants versus secondary contaminants, Millerick said, is that primary contaminants can cause illnesses, while secondary contaminants are simply just not aesthetically pleasing. Water hardness, for example, is considered a secondary contaminant.
Millerick said hardness is predominantly made from excess calcium, which impacts the texture and the way water behaves. Most water is considered hard and is treated for hardness once it exceeds 150 milligrams per calcium carbonate. In Lubbock, the average hardness is about 150-267 milligrams per calcium carbonate, and it is not treated.
“You’re not required to take care of that hardness,” Millerick said. “It’s expensive to take care of that hardness, (and) it is physically demanding to take care of that hardness, so many utilities — Lubbock included — have opted not to.”
Pool notes that salinity caused by high salt content in certain formations has made some water in the region unviable. Such cases have been found east of Lubbock near Garza County and Crosby County.
“When we see those types of issues, and we already know where those areas are, then we recommend to the customers like, ‘Hey, we probably need to go ahead and have this water tested, because this water might not even be good for grass or cows,’” Pool said.
According to the City of Lubbock website, Lake Alan Henry and Lake Meredith contribute to about 36% of Lubbock’s water usage. Meanwhile, the remaining 64% of Lubbock’s water supply comes from groundwater out of the Roberts County and Bailey County well fields.
Millerick said if you are within the area that receives water and wastewater services from the city, you are drinking City of Lubbock water.
“(On) the south side of town you still see some homes on well water and some of the rural areas,” Millerick said. “There are many, many wells out here — but generally if you’re within city limits, and certainly if you’re inside the loop, you’re drinking city water.”
Pool also noted that most wells that are installed in Lubbock County are domestic wells and require more stringent precautions. For instance, each well must sit at least five feet from the property line and 100 feet from any septic system.
“Domestic is where your acute issue would be if you had a contaminant,” Pool said. “If we’re say, irrigating a cash crop like cotton, then decontamination or disinfection is really not an issue unless you can visually see if you’re pumping something that is harmful to your crop, which is very rare in West Texas. However, what we do want to do is make sure the wells are disinfected.”
In this scenario, the well casings are opened and doused with a high concentration of chlorine, then, after the chlorine has been sitting for a reasonable amount of time, it is flushed out and tested for any bacterial contaminants — coliform bacteria being the most obvious.
“It does not hurt you, but it can kind of cause your water to smell like sulfur or rotten eggs,” Pool said. “When that happens there is a possibility also that e. coli could propagate in the future, so it is important every four to six months you go ahead and have your well doused.”
Eric Quintela, environmental protection manager, said the wells Texas Tech are concerned with are public water systems.
Although representing a small portion of the bigger picture that is Lubbock County, the public water systems used are still accountable for providing the Tech community with clean drinking water.
Quintela said Tech has to constantly maintain its facilities, checking and reporting on chlorine on a weekly basis and bacteria on a monthly basis. They are also required to have quarterly calibration of their equipment and send off whatever equipment that needs to be fixed.
To find out more about what is in your water supply visit https://ci.lubbock.tx.us/departments/water-department/resources-data.
Tips to provide quality water in your home
- For drinking and cooking, use only cold water
- If using water drinking or cooking that has not been used for an extended amount of time, flush cold taps for a few minutes.
- Clean faucet aerators routinely; if in poor condition, replace
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