Marksville water customers advised of monitoring failure

If you are a City of Marksville water customer, don’t panic if you get a letter from the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) advising that the city has not met water system monitoring requirements.

The “violation” occurred when LDH estimated the city’s population at 7,593, rather than the 5,702 noted in the 2010 Census. The higher population would require Marksville to take one additional monthly sample.

“We were notified of the change in January 2019,” the city states in a letter to customers. “The sites were not finalized until February 2019.”

The notice means that from Jan. 20-Jan. 31 the city “did not monitor for chlorine residual at one site at the same time bacteriological samples were collected and therefore we cannot be sure of the quality of your drinking water during that time.”

The city’s letter assures that “necessary action has been taken to prevent this violation from recurring.”

The city serves more than 5,700 customers,

“The public health of the Marksville community is our top priority,” the letter to customers states.

Water is monitored throughout the system “to ensure that only safe, high quality water reaches our customers.”

The city now collects eight samples per month at various sites within the water system. The samples are analyzed for bacteria. All 84 samples taken in the past year were found to be free of bacteria.

That letter says water customers with questions about the water quality can contact Cenla Environmental Science at 318-422-4000 or Water Department Supervisor John Buckels at 305-4249.