January 19, 2007

Bryan Water Treatment Plant lab earns state certification

By LOU PENDLETON

The Bryan Water Treatment Plant Laboratory was re-certified in December by the Ohio EPA for bacteriological testing. The three-year certification allows the Bryan Water Department to perform its own bacteria monitoring and to test area water supplies. The laboratory has received continuous certification since 1983.

Water Operators Bill Harter, Jessi Elson and Brett “Gus” Hulbert earned the lab certification by passing comprehensive oral and written examinations. They were also tested on the lab apparatus at the water treatment plant.

Both Ms. Elson and Mr. Harter have taken the test before, but this was the first time for Mr. Hulbert. “We studied hard,” Ms. Elson said. “If one person fails, the whole lab fails and loses certification, so you can’t study just for yourself. We didn’t tell Gus about that until after the test, so he wouldn’t get too stressed.”

Bryan must have the certification in order to do sample testing. The lab technicians test the city water supply for total coliform and E. coli each week. They also test for chlorine residual, pH and iron content every day of the year.

If the Bryan lab were not certified, Bryan Municipal Utilities would have to send out all of its samples and pay an independent commercial lab to run the tests. Because the Bryan lab is certified, the Ohio EPA lists it with preferred and commercial labs and refers people to it.

The Bryan Water Treatment Plant lab serves customers from five different counties in northwest Ohio. The operators run about 750 outside bacteria samples each year for the Williams County Health Department, area school systems, mobile home parks, churches, contractors, and private homeowners who have their own wells.

Regular bacteria testing is done on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. A standard test costs $15. Special samples can be run any day of the week for an added cost. Bryan Water Plant is the only lab in the county that does testing for outside sources. This extra testing generates about $11,000 per year that helps defray lab operating expenses.