JS Online: Pipe failures surge in Brown Deer -
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Published on: 9/2/2003
Last Visited: 9/4/2003
Because the village had been getting Milwaukee water for so long, that was not the first suspect, said Abigail Cantor, a chemical engineer with Process Research Solutions in Madison, one of those hired by Brown Deer to investigate the problem.
But "everything else was ruled out," Cantor said.
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The microbes causing the problem live in all water pipes, Cantor said, but the difference is that conditions in Brown Deer appear to be perfect for the bugs to reproduce and form colonies large enough to cause the problem.Cantor said ozonation creates the food for the microbes and boosts the oxygen content in the already oxygen-heavy lake water.
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Something is depleting the chloramine, Cantor said, and she's convinced it's being used up fighting growing colonies of microbes.
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Cantor said more disinfectant could be safely added at the end of Milwaukee's water treatment process.
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If microbes are the problem, Glodoski and Cantor believe Brown Deer probably isn't the only community affected.