By Stacey Tinsley, stinsley@bossierpress.com
The chlorine burn, started after a brain eating amoeba was discovered in Bossier City’s water ended in late December, and city officials are keeping a close eye as the system returns to normal.
A 60-day free chlorine burn was initiated following the discovery of naegleria fowleri, known as brain eating amoeba, last October and ended on December 20.
In the meantime, the city has begun a measured reduction of chlorine in the water and will continue to test it.
The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) was set to perform water testing in the first few days of January 2019 to ensure that the amoeba has been removed from the system.
However, due to the rainy weather, that testing has been delayed until this week. Test results are expected to take seven to 10 days. Upon confirmation that the samples are absent for naegleria fowleri, Bossier will begin converting the system back to chloramine.
Traci Landry, spokeswoman for Bossier City said, “Bossier will continue to test water in accordance with federal and state requirements. This includes pulling and testing approximately 90 samples per month in the distribution system for chlorine levels and coliform analysis. Additionally, Bossier will pull and test an additional 30 distribution samples, systematically targeting all areas of the City’s distribution system, daily and weekly depending on the location.”
Mayor Walker says Bossier will continue to use all water treatment assets under the practices available to ensure Bossier residents have a safe and reliable source of water.
“Bossier has and will continue to use all water treatment assets under the best practices available to ensure Bossier’s water customers will always have a safe and reliable source of water for immediate use, regardless of the situation. Bossier has implemented numerous treatment redundancies over the years to protect customers from potential water emergencies and security threats,” says Mayor Walker.
Bossier has implemented infrastructure and operational changes including the installation of automatic flushing units on fire hydrants in key areas to flush the distribution system, the installation of two chemical boosting stations at the Hwy. 71 South water tower and the northeast water tower, and a weekly supplemental sampling plan to ensure proactive measures are implemented based on sampling data.
