Spring Break
Campus water deemed clean by officials; some students still uncertain of safety
Ryan Buchan
Issue date: 10/9/08 Section: News
Coliform bacteria have been neutralized in the water at the Campus Village after university tests revealed water contamination on Sept. 24.
The problem occurred due to a lack of chlorine in the water, said Chandra Gowda, a hazardous waste specialist at SJSU.
Gowda said there was supposed to be 0.5 milligrams per liter of chlorine in the water to stop bacteria from growing. The water that was supplied to Campus Village by the San Jose Water Company only had 0.08 milligrams per liter of chlorine in it Gowda said. John Tang of the water company said that the legal minimum for the amount of chlorine is 0.2 milligrams per liter.
Gowda said the water company reduced the chlorine because of complaints about the taste.
Tang said the chlorine was always at a sufficient level, about 0.8 milligrams per liter.
"We did not adjust chlorine residual levels at all," Tang said. "We sampled them first and found they were sufficiently high enough."
Tang added that chlorine levels sometimes could drop if the water has been sitting around for a long time.
"This is an issue we believe is on San Jose State," Tang said.
SJSU President Jon Whitmore said Wednesday that the university has cleaned out the coliform bacteria.
"They flushed and cleaned the system as quickly as possible and it is in good working order," Whitmore said. "People need to keep monitoring it at a very regular basis so that hopefully it doesn't happen again; and if it does we will know about it instantly."
That is not enough for one student to trust the water again.
"I am still not going to drink the water because you can't monitor it 24/7," said Adereni Fashokun, a sophomore business management major. "If something gets back into it, you're going to be sorry. So I am not going to stay away from it completely."
After the report of the coliform bacteria in the water, San Jose Water Company tested water in the neighborhoods around SJSU and found no threats Tang said.
The problem occurred due to a lack of chlorine in the water, said Chandra Gowda, a hazardous waste specialist at SJSU.
Gowda said there was supposed to be 0.5 milligrams per liter of chlorine in the water to stop bacteria from growing. The water that was supplied to Campus Village by the San Jose Water Company only had 0.08 milligrams per liter of chlorine in it Gowda said. John Tang of the water company said that the legal minimum for the amount of chlorine is 0.2 milligrams per liter.
Gowda said the water company reduced the chlorine because of complaints about the taste.
Tang said the chlorine was always at a sufficient level, about 0.8 milligrams per liter.
"We did not adjust chlorine residual levels at all," Tang said. "We sampled them first and found they were sufficiently high enough."
Tang added that chlorine levels sometimes could drop if the water has been sitting around for a long time.
"This is an issue we believe is on San Jose State," Tang said.
SJSU President Jon Whitmore said Wednesday that the university has cleaned out the coliform bacteria.
"They flushed and cleaned the system as quickly as possible and it is in good working order," Whitmore said. "People need to keep monitoring it at a very regular basis so that hopefully it doesn't happen again; and if it does we will know about it instantly."
That is not enough for one student to trust the water again.
"I am still not going to drink the water because you can't monitor it 24/7," said Adereni Fashokun, a sophomore business management major. "If something gets back into it, you're going to be sorry. So I am not going to stay away from it completely."
After the report of the coliform bacteria in the water, San Jose Water Company tested water in the neighborhoods around SJSU and found no threats Tang said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Tim Harrison
posted 10/09/08 @ 12:16 PM PST
I've worked with the American Chemistry Council in the past, and I can't stress enough how important chlorine is in the water purification process. In fact, it's been utilized in public health for over 100 years now. (Continued…)
Tanukikun
posted 10/10/08 @ 8:56 PM PST
I think the quote should be "So I am going to stay away from it completely"...not "so I am not going to stay away from it completely". C'mon, more editing :)
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