Collegiate Times

Water is a tasteless, odorless substance that is the result of the bonding of two hydrogen atoms with an atom of oxygen. It comprises approximately 72 percent of human tissue and covers over 70 percent of the Earth?s surface. In fact, water is an essential sustaining factor to all known forms of life, so it comes as no surprise that the quality of water is a matter that is taken quite seriously.

The Town of Blacksburg, along with Virginia Tech and the City of Christiansburg, obtains its water from the New River Basin, an aquatic body that contains about 3 billion gallons of flowing water. According to the Town of Blacksburg Public Works Department website, the Blacksburg, Christiansburg, VPI Water Authority has a total capacity of 12.5 million gallons, with approximately 6.5 million gallons of water being pumped from the New River each day; about 3.1 million gallons of which services the town of Blacksburg.

Before the water can be released for public consumption, it is tested for a number of different factors, including salinity, hardness, temperature and turbidity. The water is also tested for 86 different harmful agents, with E-coli and chloroform bacteria being the most important.

After the water is monitored for these potentially harmful factors, it must be purified using what Mr. Jerry Higgins, Superintendent Manager of the Blacksburg, Christiansburg, VPI Water Authority termed ?a complete chemical process? that involves disinfection through the use of free chlorine and ammonia, the removal of coagulated solids, and filtration.

Robert Pugh, chief operator of the local water authority, outlined the process. ?First we disinfect with free chlorine,? Pugh said. The samples are then run through sand filters to screen out any large particles that may be present. Describing the latter part of the process, Pugh said, ?Then we chlorinate again after the filtering and add ammonia, which changes the chlorine to chloramine.?

According to the Blacksburg, Christiansburg, VPI water authority website, in order to keep up with stringent federal requirements, water at the Water Authority plant and in the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg are tested at least 249 times per day, which equates to at least 93,602 times per year. Such frequent tests help to ensure that the water in the Blacksburg?Christiansburg area is of the highest quality.

Despite the seemingly massive daily removal of water from the New River and the intense chemical treatments that water is subjected to, there are little or no harmful environmental effects that are caused by the purification process.

Most of the water that is pumped from the New River Basin is treated and reintroduced to the environment at water treatment plants. ?In general, we work together with the environment and the ecosystem and try not to hurt anything,? Higgins said.

Higgins also noted that the strict testing and treating requirements prevent contaminated water from being reintroduced into the ecosystem. ?The fact is, the water from the river could not pass the test that we have to pass for our discharge,? Higgins said. ?In fact, drinking water couldn?t pass that test.?

So just how good is the water in the Blacksburg area? ?We are in the unusual position of having very high quality water and plenty of it,? Higgins said. ?From a resources standpoint, it is fantastic.?