The water that comes out of every tap in the city of Poplar Bluff is drawn from the Black River.
This was true when a strange orange color lingered for weeks after historic flooding in May. It is true when the river is a muddy brown from normal spring floods, and when it flows more clearly during an average fall.
Every restaurant, business and residence relies on it, including the homes of water department workers.
The importance of providing quality water would not be lost on department superintendent Roger Daggett, even without strict regulations from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
"It has to be right," Daggett said recently, during a tour of the facilities on Johnson Drive that serve approximately 8,600 customers.
City officials say the department continued to meet this challenge even when the Black River contained more sediment than it ever has since the treatment system came online in 1929.
The water department used eight months worth of chemicals in one week to remove the red clay that washed into the Black River from the overflow spillway at Clearwater Dam.
"Trainloads of mud came down through here. " Daggett said as he walked through the river intake structure, settling basins, filter rooms and other areas that help produce clean water.
Clearwater Dam used its secondary spillway in early May, for the first time in the project's history. Water cut across a dry field between the lake and river, carving the earth down to the bedrock.
It created a new valley that is as much as a mile long and up to 50 feet deep in some areas.
When the water returned to the Black River, it contained enough material to turn the waterway orange for weeks.
This sediment and suspended solid matter is measured as turbidity, one of the yard sticks for water quality.
Treated city drinking water had a turbidity level of .034 parts per million last week. It was made from an intake of raw river water that had 18 parts per million, explained Mike Coleman, water plant superintendent.
Raw river water topped 2,000 parts per million in May, he continued.
It was so high, it exceeded the tracking ability of the gauges that measure turbidity, Coleman said.
The city's previous high was 500 parts per million, a level that might be reached once a year, said Daggett, who has been with the water department for 38 years.
Clearwater officials have said the cut out in the overflow spillway will remain.
"We may never see mud like that again," Daggett said.
Officials say experience and the two new back-up wells brought online early this year were crucial for what Daggett believes is a one-of-a-kind event.
This also has highlighted the need for additional backup wells, according to Bach. The current two wells would not be able to handle all of the city's water usage, plant operators say.
Bach has discussed the need to budget for two more backup wells with the Municipal Utilities Advisory Board.
Turbidity dropped to 1,000 parts per million when the two back-up wells were brought online, and this was what the city actually had to treat, Coleman said.
The remaining sediment was removed through the use of filters and a mixture that bonds with suspended solid matter. The bonded material then settles out over several hours while it is left to sit in a pair of 500,000 gallon basins.
Water moves to another set of filters after this.
It also receives pre and post chlorine treatment, the addition of fluoride and a final dose of ultraviolet light disinfection before entering clean drinking water holding tanks.
Clean water tanks at the water plant hold 500,000 gallons of water, with another 4.5 million gallons held in elevated tanks around the city.
The city was using about 2.8 million gallons of water a day as of late last week, Daggett said.
Plant operators conduct tests on the water every two hours to ensure enough of the mixture to remove sediment is being used.
During times of high turbidity, this can be done every 30 minutes.
Testing equipment at the plant provides immediate levels for turbidity, chlorine and fluoride, as well as measuring water color.
Plant operators test the raw river water, partially treated water and clean water from the distribution lines.
This information must also be recorded and provided to DNR.
The back-up wells and UV disinfection, both completed this year, are part of a series of projects approved by voters with an $8.5 million bond issue in 2007. They represent a cost of about $1 million and were done in the final phase of a system-wide upgrade that included new raised water towers and improved distribution lines.
The UV disinfection addresses issues DNR has warned residents about in recent months regarding an organism called cryptosporidium, as well as levels of disinfection byproducts, according to the city.
While neither the river water nor treated city water has every tested positive for cryptosporidium, the UV process is now required by DNR because the drinking water comes from surface river water, Daggett said.
DNR also tightened standards regarding levels of disinfection byproducts, which required another treatment process. The byproducts occur when chlorine combines with naturally occurring organic matter. High levels can cause health problems, including liver and kidney issues, when ingested over many years, according to DNR.