Governor Mark Dayton has marked May 6-12 Safe Drinking Water week in Minnesota as water professionals and the communities they serve join together to recognize the vital role water plays in people’s daily routines. Governor Dayton also recognized the cities of Moorhead, Rochester, St. Martin and Verndale for their leadership activities in source water protection efforts. These cities were recognized for serving as an example to other communities of how local involvement by land owners, community residents and government can lead to effective implementation of source water protection efforts. The four cities were given certificates from Dayton for their appreciated achievements. Along with Safe Drinking Water Week, the Minnesota Department of Health has released its annual drinking water report. Results indicate that drinking water is generally in good shape in Minnesota’s community water supply systems. A vast majority of community water systems have met all the regulations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. “People who get their drinking water from a public water source can be assured that it is tested more thoroughly and regulated more closely than water from any other source,” said Minnesota Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger. “On those occasions when a problem is detected, the health department works with the water system to make sure corrective actions are taken. These actions always include notification of the residents affected by the problem.” During 2011, MDH operated 23,000 tests for pesticides and industrial contaminants in Minnesota’s 961 community water systems. None of these systems violated drinking water standards. A few systems tested positive for coliform bacteria, disinfection by-products, nitrate and radium during the drinking water assessment. All systems were disinfected, flushed and re-tested to ensure that the contamination was gone. All residents receiving water from these affected systems were informed of the situation.
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