The City of Milwaukee’s drinking water gets high marks when it comes to “quality”. The Environmental Protection Agency requires every public water supplier around the country to publish its annual report.
Technology has influenced the utility’s ability to get ahead of the requirement curve. More than 150 instruments continuously monitor the entire water treatment process. The water treatment protocol has also become more sophisticated. The most important part of the process was the shift from chlorine to ozone as the primary disinfectant. Ozone water treatment was prompted by the 1993 outbreak of Cryptosporidium. It sickened hundreds of thousands, killed some people and forced residents to boil their water.
Chlorine, at practical dosages, does not kill Cryptosporidium. Ozone is an effective treatment for this organism and, it also removes emerging contaminants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products that are present in the city’s source water.