Salmonella treatment validated by arsenic analyser

SafeGuard quickly validated a salmonella treatment option that allowed the water operators in the city of Alamosa, USA, to return the drinking water supply system to acceptable levels

The City of Alamosa faced a salmonella outbreak in the water supply earlier in 2008.

The most viable option for quickly fixing the problem was to superchlorinate the water.

Although a fairly common practice, this method was questioned because of Alamosa's high level of naturally-occurring arsenic that is present in the groundwater.

Officials worried that adding excess chlorine would liberate arsenic and send the arsenic levels well above the federally-regulated, 10ppb limit.

"It is our goal to quickly respond to our customers' needs," says Richard Brewer, CEO and president, TraceDetect.

"The City of Alamosa had a viable option for clearing the salmonella outbreak, but desperately needed quick validation that it wouldn't create an additional problem.

"Within a week, they had an arsenic analyser and technician available onsite to determine that superchlorination wasn't going to create an arsenic problem for them".

The quick response was critical for water officials at the City of Alamosa.

"Traditionally, superchlorination is used to treat those rare occurrences of salmonella outbreak within a drinking water supply system.

"With the SafeGuard system, we were able to prove that superchlorination did not liberate our naturally-occurring arsenic.

"The arsenic levels remained low and the salmonella outbreak was contained," said Don Koskelin, Alamosa public works director.

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