At Monday’s Mount Carmel City Council meeting, Water Superintendent Keith Reed updated council members on a violation recently flagged by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency at the city’s water treatment plant.
Reed explained the violation involves inadequate removal of disinfection byproduct precursors, specifically total organic carbon, or TOC. The issue stems from EPA compliance calculations for the months of July through September, when quarterly averages showed the city slightly outside the required range.
Reed emphasized the violation does not pose an immediate health risk and noted that TOC itself has no direct health effects. He added that the city’s disinfection byproducts remain well within EPA limits and the water is safe to drink.
City officials are required by law to notify customers, and Reed said approximately two-thousand public notice letters will be sent out, some by mail and others electronically, along with a public notice.
The Illinois EPA has directed the city to continue monitoring TOC levels over the next quarter. Reed said this is the first TOC-related violation in nearly two decades and that staff will make minor adjustments as needed while closely monitoring water quality.