McKenzie:
Hi, folks. I'm McKenzie VanMeerhaeghe and this is Water You Talking About? A podcast brought to you by WaterOne, where we talk about the ins and outs of all things water. Today we are talking about our water process! We are diving deep into how our lab plays a role in providing you with our award winning tap water, and we answer some commonly asked questions from you all. Let's dive into it.
Today I'm joined by Brad Ebinger, who is a Microbiology Supervisor at our Water Quality Laboratory. Brad will be our resident water expert for today's episode. Brad, thanks for joining us.
Brad:
Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here.
McKenzie:
First, I want to start off by asking some questions about you so we can get to know who you are and what you do a little bit more. How long have you been at WaterOne?
Brad:
I've been at WaterOne for a little over ten years now.
McKenzie:
Awesome.
Brad:
I started out as an Operations Technician working at our, at our treatment plant, overseeing, all the treatment processes that that go through at WaterOne. And then, I'm now at the water quality laboratory.
McKenzie:
That's awesome. So you've kind of gotten to experience a wide variety of all the things you can do here at WaterOne. That's super cool. Can you tell me a little bit more about your background?
Brad:
Of course. I graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia with a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences. From there I actually worked at a co-op with the university and the Missouri Department of Conservation, where I was working on a life history study of freshwater mussels in the Merrimack River basin. And that was a really cool experience, being able to go out in the river every day, snorkel up and down the river looking for a different species of freshwater mussels. And then from there again, about ten years ago, I started here at WaterOne. back in 2013 where I was a treatment plant operator you know, coming in, I really didn't know where our water came from or anything about that. You know, you just turn the tap on and there it is. And and I love it. Have been doing it ever since. I really enjoy it. all the all the work that goes into it and being part of the community, it's been great.
McKenzie:
What sparked your interest and made you kind of want to go into water?
Brad:
So my degree with Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, I focused on fisheries science. So it's a lot of water quality, inland water body water quality. and how our relationship with water around us affects what we end up drinking from day to day. And I really thought it this, that interconnection of us with water is really important. And having to preserve that's really important for public health.
McKenzie:
Well, yeah, that's super interesting. What might a typical day at WaterOne for you look like?
Brad:
So at the lab, you know, we have a lot of stuff we have to do regulatory wise that we we have to test for every day. a lot of the testing we do is, is regulatory reasons, but we're also working in support of other divisions and other departments within our division. like operations, we the data we produce helps them treat the water better. And then we are also providing support to distribution and all the new construction projects that have got going on. so a typical day to day. Yeah, there's that stuff we do every day, all day, every day. But then The variability of who needs the information that we provide, whether it's new construction projects or if there was a main break overnight that they, we need to check to make sure the water is clean and safe at that main break before they put it back into service. or a lot of the customers that we get calls in that they're just concerned they have questions about their water. And a lot of the things we talk about with the customers are just, I saw this in the news, or my water looks just a little bit different, and we just provide relief. And we're a an expert for them to, to rely on. And then sometimes that does end up us going out to their home and, and investigating a little further. But we're there as, as our resident water expert for them as well.
McKenzie:
Do you find it super rewarding to have such a close connection to the community through the work you do?
Brad:
I do. Everyone here at WaterOne, whether they live in Johnson County or not, is a part of this community. And they're a part of public health every day. And we are community members serving our community. And I'm really passionate about that. and being able to provide that information, provide that expertise to our community members is really important. because the water touches everything we do every day. I agree, it's such a rewarding opportunity that we get to have here at WaterOne. It's great.
McKenzie:
What do you love most about your work?
Brad:
I think again, just being a part of the community. you know, the last ten years I've been here, it's a 24 hour operation. That's something that I've learned that that's here. everyone relies on water every day. It doesn't just stop during business hours. It's nights, it's weekends, it's holidays. And there is staff all throughout water. One that are very passionate about providing clean, safe drinking water to our, to our community every day.
McKenzie:
Yeah. That's amazing. It's always so refreshing to hear about how people come into their careers. I'm so excited to get to dive into our water process more with you through this episode. Speaking of our water process, where do we get our water from?
Brad:
So we have two different water sources, the Missouri and the Kansas River. They're both surface water. Water sources. so, but that provides a lot of, advantages for WaterOne. we can pick and choose where we pull our water from based on water quality. so if there is a, some type of water quality event that happens on one water source, we can switch to another. That way our water quality on the tap stays consistent. It also provides us, ample water supply in case of droughts or, you know, we can always pick from which water source, is more efficient to pull from at that point in time as well.
McKenzie:
Yeah. That's awesome. We are in such a unique position to be able to have two major rivers that we can draw water from. And as the largest water utility in Kansas, we feel we have a responsibility to be a leader among our peers, our staff and our leadership. Monitor and participate in advisory committees and interest groups involved with River policy, advocacy, preservation, and management. We also stay engaged in statewide, regional and national conversations about water resources and water quality. Now that we've talked a little bit about where our water comes from, let's talk about where it goes. When water gets to your lab, what do you do with it?
Brad:
So I guess we'll take one step back first. As our team in the lab, we actually are out every day at our water sources. So the both the Missouri and the Kansas River, as well as our different treatment plants, we actually have three separate treatment plants that we treat water and we'll collect samples from the source water from the treatment plants. Then that's just for, operational process control. Make sure that we're in line with where we need to be regulatory wise. And then we're also out in the field every day as well at places that we can get access to easily. So we'll go to, coffee shops, gas stations, apartment complexes, places where we can get in and test the water both in the field and bring it back to our chemists and microbiologists to test as well. so they'll bring those samples back in, and we'll begin running analysis in almost immediately with the samples that come into the lab. Last year we had 14,000 different samples come in through our lab, where a lot of them are regulatory. But again, some of them are just in support of distribution and operations to make sure, process control rights we're at where we need to be.
McKenzie:
It's really comforting to know that we are out in the field, in the community that we serve, actively getting water from all different sources. That's really cool. Once the water is at our lab, What are we testing for and what methods do we use to treat our water?
Brad:
So we're testing for different inorganic and organic constituents in the water. You know you look out on the river it's murky. It's brown. even though the rivers are pretty you don't necessarily want to drink that water. So we'll test for different coliform bacteria E coli. other natural deposits in the water. So things like arsenic or barium, even lead and selenium. Other big ones are even going to be radioactive particles. All those things that are naturally occurring in the environment. But we don't necessarily want to drink. So we test the water before it gets to the treatment plant to know what's there. And then we treat the water at the treatment plant, and then we test everything after to see that removal of those constituents. And the treatment process is really cool. we'll treat the water briefly at our intake facilities by just trying to get everything, all those particles that are floating around in the water to settle out really quickly. And then we bring the water into the plant where we use ozone for disinfection. Ozone is a natural process. You'll smell it during thunderstorms. That's the smell you'll have before a big thunderstorm
McKenzie:
Oh, interesting. And
Brad:
And we'll use ozone for disinfection. And then it moves on to more of our treatment process again, where we're encouraging those particles in the water to collide together, to become heavy enough that they just sink out of the water naturally on their own. We'll also soften the water so we don't get a whole lot of scale buildup, in your showers and sinks and in other fixtures in your home. And then we filter the water. And that sounds just like probably what you're really familiar with at home in your, in your, refrigerator or faucet, where we're pushing the water through really small pores and anything that's left over just gets stuck in there. And then we disinfect the water one more time with chlorine and ammonia. That way the water stays clean when it's out in our distribution system.
McKenzie:
Wow, that's so interesting to know how many different ways we clean our water. It's really reassuring to hear. I also want to talk a little bit more about ozone.
Ozone is a powerful oxidant. Is a safe, effective, and natural method for treating water. Ozone is now the primary means of disinfection for water produced at Water One's Hansen Treatment Plant. Ozone forms naturally when electricity causes oxygen molecules to bond together as O3 as an oxidant. Ozone is highly effective at destroying viruses, bacteria, pharmaceuticals, as well as breaking down taste and odor compounds in our source water. You may be wondering why we chose to upgrade. Well, the health and safety of our customers is our top priority. Ozone is one of the strongest treatment methods available, which will allow us to proactively meet or exceed future drinking water regulations. Besides being an improved treatment method for substances in the source, water ozone treatment process is more efficient and cost effective. Conventional water treatment methods rely on costly chemical additives and water. One gets better value from ratepayer dollars by replacing these methods with ozone water treatment. It really is such an impressive method for water treatment. So is it unique for us to be able to have our own lab? And what are some benefits of us having our own lab?
Brad:
It's unique in a way. It's not every water utility will have their own lab. They'll rely on, other laboratories that they'll send samples to. but in Water One's case, it provides a great benefit to us and our customers in the community. because we can not only test the constituents that we have to regulatory wise, and we can also provide a lot of data that helps improve treatment. You know, our operators can see the data that we're producing and tweak what they're doing treatment wise to make the water even better than what it needs to be. Same thing with distribution. when we're working on these new construction projects, we'll go out there and test the water for them again to make sure that the water not only meets federal regulations, but also exceeds them. And we can provide that data a lot quicker because we're taking the samples, processing them almost immediately, and then getting the data out as quick as possible.
McKenzie:
Yeah, that's awesome. What contaminants can be found in water that we typically will treat?
Brad:
So the Missouri and Kansas rivers, if you look at the areas around them, they're largely agricultural. We don't have a lot of industrial runoff. It's going to be a lot of crops, a lot of, Feed animals like cows, pigs, chickens. so a lot of the contaminants we'll see in water are going to be fertilizers or runoff from, from those feed animals. And we'll also find natural erosion of natural deposits like arsenic. So we're always testing for those to know that they're there, but then we're testing everything after it's treated to make sure that it's not there anymore.
McKenzie:
Oh, that's so interesting. And it's interesting to know that your environment largely affects what we test for. So because we get our samples from rivers who have an agricultural environment around them, it's different than an industrial environment. That's really interesting.
Brad:
And that's we're kind of stewards of the environment then because we're not only water one. When I say we're the community we're largely responsible for, then what is going into the rivers? So that's why we need to be stewards of the environment and be really mindful of what's going there, because we're going to have to take it all out eventually.
McKenzie:
Yes, exactly. So who exactly regulates the water that we drink?
Brad:
So there's two the Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA is the federal, regulatory body overseeing, everything that we do. And then on a state level, it's the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. We're striving to not only meet all those federal and state regulations, but to exceed those federal and state regulations. WaterOne has our own internal standards that we strive for and meet, every day of the year. You can look at our consumer confidence report on our website, and we list everything that we test for. We list every, contaminant level set by the EPA and FDA. And you can see we're we're exceeding all of that.
McKenzie:
Yes. That's awesome. And I'll mention this again in a little bit. But that consumer confidence report is available at waterone.org/2024report. So, what factors determine water quality?
Brad:
So water quality can be anything from the turbidity level or the particles floating around in there to just the temperature of the water. so the things that are going to influence that are going to be seasonal, depending on the time of year, because we are a surface water treatment plant from the Missouri and Kansas rivers. Depending on the time of year, this is going to change how we treat the water over the winter. There's not a whole lot of agriculture going on because it's the ground's frozen, there's snow on the ground. but when that all that ice and snow thaws, it's going to wash everything into the river that was on the ground. Followed by later on in the spring when we get big, heavy rainstorms again, that's going to influence the water. And then in the summer when we're like, right now, we're not getting a whole lot of rain. It's really, really, really hot. the river levels are a little lower. That water coming in is going to be a different temperature. There's going to be different constituents in the water than there was in the wintertime when it was everything was frozen. So again, it's very seasonal. It's very dependent on what's going on around us, in the community and across the state and up north of us in our in the watershed. but that's where our operators and us in the lab are working really hard at being ahead of everything. That's why we're doing all the testing that we're doing is so we can be proactive with treatment instead of reactive.
McKenzie:
And we talked a little bit about who regulates the water that we drink. Do the same people regulate bottled water?
Brad:
They do not. The FDA or the Food and Drug Administration, regulate bottled water. But if you look, you'll actually see a lot of bottled water is bottled municipal water from wherever the water bottle factory is at. Our water is tested by our accredited lab over 120,000 times a year and is closely regulated by state and federal authorities. Tap water is also completely local, locally sourced, locally purified, and delivered straight to your tap. In fact, it's the best tasting water in Kansas. Water one is strictly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. We monitor for over 100 regulated and unregulated contaminants, quality testing, over 18,000 samples, and not only are we required to publish this information on our water quality, but we are happy to share. In contrast, bottled water companies are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and only required to meet for regulatory measures. And more than half of bottled water is just repackaged tap water. Like Brad said, not only is it more costly, but it produces more disposable plastic that ends up in our environment. So support local by drinking tap. Speaking of publishing information on water quality, we have an annual water quality report.
As we mentioned earlier, this is always available on our website at waterone.org/2024Report. This link and all of the links that I mentioned throughout the episode will be available in our description and our transcription.Brad, can you talk a little bit about what your process is when putting together this report?
Brad:
So this report, the water quality report, the consumer confidence report, the CCR, it's our report card for the year. You know, you would get your report card in fifth grade. Take it home, we well this one is our yearly report. We have reports that we send to our regulatory agencies every month. Every quarter, semiannually and annually. And so we take all of that data that we've collected throughout the year, all the different reports that we've sent monthly and every other month and compile it into this report here. It's a lot of data, like you said, all the samples that we bring in, all the regulated and unregulated contaminants that we're monitoring, everything that we find and identifying goes in this report whether or not we have to report it or not, because we want to be as transparent as possible about what's there in that report. We're also listing what we found, but we list what the, maximum level that is allowed. And you'll find that we're well below all of those maximum levels.
McKenzie:
Yes. It's so reassuring to know that so much goes into making sure our water quality is not only award winning, but also incredibly safe. Water one closely monitors our water 24 over seven and before it reaches your top, it has been meticulously filtered and treated. When customers call into our customer service line with questions on water quality, they're forwarded to your team at the lab. Right, Brad?
Brad:
That's correct.
McKenzie:
We are going to go over some of the most commonly asked questions that you all get. First, what is hard water?
Brad:
Hard water is high in dissolved minerals, largely calcium and magnesium. You've may have felt the effects of hard water the last time you wash your hands, depending on the hardness of your water. After using soap to wash, you may have felt that there is a film or residue left on your hands, and that film or residue is actually, the hardness, the elevated hardness of the water reacting with the soap. So those calcium and sometimes magnesium minerals are reacting with the soap to form soap scum or soap curd soap film, whatever you want to call it. And so when using hard water, you actually have to use more soap or detergent, to get things clean, whether it's your hands, your hair, your clothes, even cleaning the bathtub. it because that curd, that film is really hard to get away.
McKenzie:
Do we have harder water or softer water at WaterOne?
Brad:
So we actually soften our water. So the water that we come, that comes from the Missouri and Kansas River, would be considered moderately hard. water hardness is it's not a regulated. It's not regulated in any way. It's purely esthetic. but again, we're actually extending the life of your fixtures in your home by softening the water because really hard water, again, it will deposit those minerals inside your hot water tank. You'll see it plug up your shower. shower faucet or other places where your. We use water regularly
McKenzie:
So what is the reddish tint that people often see in their showers?
Brad:
So the reddish tint is actually caused by a bacteria found abundantly in many environments. It doesn't originate in our water, though.
Due to its abundant presence in our environment and its preference for damp conditions, it can be found growing. Oftentimes in your bathroom. You have your door closed when you're taking a shower. It's very humid in there. so you'll see maybe this pinkish, almost reddish tint in like tile, your tile grout or in the basin of your shower or even around the ring in your toilet. Or if you're looking in the back of your toilet, the water tank, you might see a little bit of it there. and it's it's not harmful. You just kind of kind of give it a good scrub in and it goes away again. It really likes those humid environments. You'll oftentimes see this more occurring more in the summer because it's hot and humid outside. And then you have your hot and humid bathroom. or as opposed to winter, you might not see it as often. It's not it's not going to not happen in the winter, but it's just less likely to be there.
McKenzie:
Why is water sometimes cloudy?
Brad:
So cloudiness in water is usually caused by tiny air bubbles trapped in tap water during the winter water can appear cloudier than normal because cold water becomes more air soluble. So the colder the water is, the easier it is for air to be dissolved in the water. During those cold conditions, water pressure may also increase or the temperature of the water may decrease, which both permit that water to hold more air than usual. And then as the water enters your home, it's going to warm up inside of your home. And as that water warms up, that air can't stay dissolved any longer in the water. And so then you turn on your faucet or your shower and you know, it'll appear cloudy. one of the ways we usually check this is if you fill up a glass in your faucet and just set it on your counter, you'll notice it starts to clear from the bottom up, because all of that air is releasing out of the top of the glass.
McKenzie:
Oh, okay. So what does it mean if my water has a funny taste or it smells kind of funny?
Brad:
Unusual taste or odors in water are usually caused by organic materials and compounds found naturally in our river source ater. They commonly occur in the spring or the fall when we're having these really large changes in weather, changes in daily air temperature and when that change in daily air temperature occurs, then the water is also going to change in temperature. And when those temperature swings occur, the water can literally turn over, where the water column will invert because of the difference in temperature in the water. And when it does that, it stirs everything up in the reservoir in the river, bringing up a lot of those organics that are located in the bottom of the river to the top. And so that's what you'll sometimes taste, in the tap water.
McKenzie:
So is my water still safe to drink when it has this funny taste and smell? It is. we check again. We check the water every day. to make sure it's safe. We check the chlorine levels to make sure it's safe. And just sometimes that taste comes through, at the very end. And as soon as we detect that taste there, we're changing treatment to make sure it goes away. It just sometimes a little bit gets past us before we can taste the water. And then, we then adjust treatment accordingly.
McKenzie:
Okay. Yeah. So it's more of an esthetic factor to our water quality instead of a quality issue.
Brad:
That's correct.
McKenzie:
Interesting. Okay. So what are the purpose of water towers? I see them everywhere all the time. What exactly do they do?
Brad:
A water tower is an elevated structure that holds water that maintains pressure throughout the distribution system. The water tower operates in conjunction with our underground reservoirs and pump stations to provide water when public demand is high. Because of that, they provide water and pressure even when there is no power in the area, and because they rely only on hydrostatic pressure produced by the elevation of the water, water is always available.
McKenzie:
Okay. Awesome! Thank you so much for going over some of those commonly asked questions. It's always good just to kind of hear from directly from our lab what's going on? As always, we do want to hear from our community and be able to answer any questions that you may have about your water. You can always call our customer care line at (913) 895-1800. For questions or for help. Well, thank you so much, Brad, for taking the time out of your busy day to come on the show and talk with us about water quality. I really appreciate you and everything everyone does in the lab to ensure that we have safe drinking water.
Brad:
Of course. Thanks for having me. I love being here. I love talking about what I do, in serving our community. So thank you for providing an opportunity to do that
McKenzie:
Of course. Just a reminder, you can access our water quality report online at Waterone.org/2024report. Don't forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and on our social media channels. Please take a moment to share with your friends and family. We greatly appreciate all the love and support that we've received from y'all since we've started this podcast.
Our next episode will be about water one careers! Learn about the many different career opportunities at WaterOne What we are doing to champion diversity, equity and inclusion. And what a career at WaterOne could look like for you. We can't wait to see you there. Thank you for listening and I'll see you next time on. Water You Talking About?