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City to send notices after first-time TOC monitoring violation; operator says "water is safe to drink"
Summary
Mount Carmel’s water operator reported a quarterly monitoring violation for total organic carbon (TOC) precursor removal for July–September; the city will send required notices (about 2,000 letters) and monitor the next quarter, with the EPA overseeing follow-up.
Mount Carmel — The city’s water operator told the council the utility received a compliance notice for inadequate removal of DBP precursors (measured via total organic carbon, or TOC) for the July through September quarterly monitoring period.
The operator said this is the first TOC violation in 18–19 years and described the EPA’s approach as requiring continued monitoring: "the EPA's official response is we're just going to monitor from now for the next quarter. If for some reason we still tick up over the limit, we'll do the same thing." He reassured residents that "your water is safe to drink" and explained that TOC itself "has 0 health effects" while the concern relates to disinfection byproducts.
Council and staff said the city is required to send public notices under IEPA rules; staff estimated roughly 2,000 notices must go out and that some would be sent via the city's email program to save time and money. The operator said the utility is testing raw and finished water monthly, will make slight treatment adjustments if needed, and will continue in-house testing while awaiting the EPA's next monitoring cycle.
The council did not take regulatory action beyond acknowledging the required notices and monitoring steps. No immediate public-health advisory was issued during the meeting.
