March 29, 2002
LODI NEWS
SENTINELLockeford water tests positive for coliform
bacteria; state says water’s fine
By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel staff writer
Lockeford’s water distribution center tested positive for
coliform bacteria in early March, but local and state officials
don’t see a problem for Lockeford residents.
“It’s good (water),” said Tahir Mansoor, an engineer in the
California Department of Health Services’ Stockton office. “It
meets the standards because all the repeat samples were negative.”
Nevertheless, the Lockeford Community Services District was
required to publish a legal statement stating that the district
failed the maximum contaminant level of coliform.
The legal notice, written by the state Department of Health
Services, says the water can cause disease causing diarrhea,
cramps, nausea, possibly jaundice, and associated headaches and
fatigue.
“It’s standard language,” Mansoor said. “I just took it from
our regulations.”
Joe Salzman, manager of the Lockeford Community Services
District, said the coliform discovery resulted in him chlorinating
district water delivered to homes in the Bear Creek neighborhood,
located south of Highway 88 and east of Tully Road, and Lockeford
Bluffs, north of the highway in the eastern end of town.
Chlorine was added to the water to protect it from bacteria.
Salzman said the district tested positive on two samples taken
in early March, but seven subsequent samples the same week gave
Lockeford a clean bill of health.
“That’s keeping in step with state requirement,” Salzman said.
“If you have one bad sample, it’s nothing. If you have two, it’s a
freakout.”
The positive test came from a well at Lockeford Bluffs that is
also supplying water to the Bear Creek subdivision because the
Bear Creek well is being repaired, Salzman said.
“Coliform itself is not considered dangerous to health,”
Mansoor said. “If you have dust on your desk, you could have some
coliform. It could have been bad sampling procedure.”
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