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Long Term VOC Monitoring- Post CZU Fire

In August of 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burned dozens of structures throughout the service area of the SLVWD.  In late August of 2020, the SLVWD sampled for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in the fire impacted neighborhoods.  These sampling events revealed isolated detections of benzene and other VOC’s in the Riverside Grove neighborhood. Benzene and other fire related VOCs have not been detected in any mainline samples since September 16th, 2020, however the SLVWD plans to monitor the distribution system for VOCs in the long term.  In conjunction with the State Water Resources Control Board- Division of Drinking Water, the SLVWD has developed a Long-Term VOC Monitoring Plan, which can be viewed in the link below.  The Long-Term VOC Monitoring Plan details the sample collection locations as well as the frequency of sampling.  The plan specifies that the SLVWD will continue to monitor the distribution system for VOCs until at least December of 2022. 

The SLVWD will be posting all sample results of the Long Term VOC Monitoring Plan to its website and has created a quick reference sample results spreadsheet, which can be viewed below. 

Please note that Trihalomethanes (TTHM’s) are included and detected in the VOC lab reports and the quick reference sample results spreadsheets.  Trihalomethanes are disinfection byproducts, formed by the reaction of natural organic matter with disinfectants, such as free chlorine.  The SLVWD does expect to detect TTHM’s in the distributed water and has been monitoring for TTHM’s under the Disinfection Byproducts Monitoring Rule. The maximum contaminant level (MCL) for TTHM’s is 80 ug/L, on a locational running annual average. 

For any further questions regarding the SLVWD’s Long Term VOC Monitoring Plan, please contact The Water Treatment and Systems Supervisor, Nate Gillespie at (831)216-9019.

Long-term Monitoring Plan:

Long-term Monitoring Results: