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Saturday, April 7, 2007 12:15 AM CDT
Our View: Water departments earn awards for good taste
By the JG/T-C Editorial Board
editorial@jg-tc.com
Mattoon and Charleston getting rave reviews for their water?
Who would have thought so?
Not the residents of Mattoon and Charleston.
Consider these past headlines from the Journal Gazette and Times-Courier:
March 1993 — “Kottwitz: Steps should help (Mattoon) water taste, odor.”
February 1994 — “(Charleston) water plant searches for tasty solutions.”
February 2000 — “City manager discusses taste and odor problems in Charleston water.”
December 2002 — “Water pressure: Mattoon residents are upset with the quality of the city’s drinking water.”
So you can see that the two cities had some issues with drinking water taste and odor for years. Now, fast-forward to March 2007 headlines:
“Mattoon water wins taste contest.”
“Charleston water treatment plant gets statewide, international notice.”
It took a while, but new water treatment plants in both communities have made a huge difference in the taste and odor of the drinking water.
In fact, there is no noticeable taste or odor to the drinking water. That’s the way water should taste and smell, right?
In February, the Mattoon City Water Department was declared the winner of the 15-County Water Supply Operator Association Water Taste Contest. Mattoon water was judged first on taste and clarity, said Jim Lang, who heads the Mattoon water department’s water-processing plant at Lake Paradise.
Not only was Mattoon the area winner but second place went to Bill Bosler and the staff of the Charleston Water Department.
What about the taste of Mattoon’s water made it a winner?
Actually, it was nothing, reported Barb Waddell of the Sullivan Water Plant. “With water, you really don’t want a taste,” she said.
Shortly after Mattoon’s water was named a winner, the Charleston Water Treatment Plant received statewide and international recognition for its use of ozone in water treatment.
The plant received a 2007 Engineering Excellence Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois. The award nomination was submitted by the facility’s design firm, Crawford, Murphy & Till Inc. of Springfield.
“It is something we are real proud of and it’s something that is paying huge dividends in taste and odor elimination,” plant Superintendent Bill Bosler said.
Congratulations to the water departments and past city councils of both communities for tackling the problems that were irritants for years. There was never a health issue with either city’s water supply.
Many people just thought the water didn’t taste or smell like, well, water.
But that’s in the past. Today’s water is top quality and the water departments in Mattoon and Charleston have the awards to prove it.
— JG/T-C Editorial Board
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