Pflugerville Water System Fails Regulatory Standards On Parasite

PFLUGERVILLE, TX — Residents learned this week their drinking water failed regulatory standards required to remove a parasite, and the municipal filtration system has not worked properly for 10 of the last 12 months.

In an advisory alerting residents posted on the Pflugerville city website, city officials acknowledged the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found the municipal water system failed to block a Cryptosporidium parasite from the filtration process.

Symptoms that may result from ingesting the parasite could include diarrhea, fever, or vomiting.

Neither regulators nor city officials outright confirmed the parasite made it into the water supply, but confirm water treatment plant officials were unable to confirm whether the parasite was properly filtered.

Letter mailed to Pflugerville residents

On the municipal website, city officials said letters would be sent to homeowners alerting them to the regulatory agency's determination. "The City failed to meet Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Cryptosporidium removal requirements during the surface water treatment process due to damaged water filtration membranes," officials wrote on the city portal. "The damaged membranes decreased the effectiveness of the filtration at the surface water treatment plant."

City officials assured "immediate corrective action" was taken to ensure the municipal water supply meets regulatory standards after being alerted to the filtration breakdown. "The filtration membranes have been repaired and monitoring processes are confirmed to be in place to prevent this from happening in the future."

Related stories:

• Pflugerville Was Fined More Than $30K After Chlorine Creek Spill
• Pump Fail Dumps 3.4M Gallons Of Chlorinated Water In Pflugerville
• Pflugerville Plant Malfunction Leads To Another Fish Kill
  
• Pflugerville Hasn't Paid State Fine After Chlorine Creek Spill

And yet it's not the first time problems with the city's water treatment plant have emerged or the only time officials have vowed corrective measures to prevent future issues — only to have problems surface later:

• As Patch first reported on July 15, the city was fined more than $30,000 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality after some 3.4 million gallons of chlorinated water were discharged into Gilleland Creek in May after a pump failure that occurred over a weekend. Undetected until the following workday, the spill resulted in a sizable fish kill. The city declined to pay the fine, assuring regulator they acted quickly to correct the issue that caused the spill of chlorinated water into the creek. Responding to queries from Patch, city spokesperson Maggie Holman made assurances the city had taken steps to prevent future spills: "The City of Pflugerville Public Works Department received the letter from TCEQ, and we are evaluating our options. We are committed to making sure this does not happen in the future."
• But by the following August, another plant malfunction led to a second fish kill. City officials quietly alerted residents in a brief statement on the Pflugerville municipal website two days after that spill: "On Aug. 19, 2019, the City of Pflugerville was notified by Southwest Water Company about a mechanical pump failure at the Windermere Wastewater Utility Plant resulting in a fish kill on Gilleland Creek which flows eastward through Pflugerville. In an abundance of caution, the city recommends staying clear of the Gilleland Creek." Gary Rose, director of operations at the Windermere Utility, sent Patch a prepared statement saying in part utility officials "...are developing a plan to help ensure this type of event does occur in the future."
• In 2014, more than a million gallons of untreated sewage flowed into Gilleland Creekin the early morning hours of a Sunday after a power outage disabled a Pflugerville wastewater treatment plant, according to media reports at the time.
• The following year, a contractor inadvertently ruptured an 8-inch water main that caused a spill of 560,000 gallons of chlorinated water into the creek. According to information found on the City of Pflugerville website, a Texas Parks and Wildlife investigation found the 2015 discharge killed about 1,575 fish. The restitution value of the lost fish and investigation cost was calculated at the time to be $1,047, city officials reported at the time.

In a Lower Colorado River Authority assessment, Gilleland Creek in 2004 was found by TCEQ officials to have "impaired water quality due to bacteria levels in excess of state standards," according to the document. A so-called Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study of flow and bacteria levels in Gilleland Creek subsequently was conducted by the LCRA and TCEQ in 2006, which found that elevated bacteria levels correlated with higher flow in the creek from storm water runoff, according to the findings.

Residents with concerns over the parasite issue were directed to view the frequently asked questions worksheet online at www.pflugervilletx.gov/water or call the city's communication office at (512) 990-6115.

What is Cryptosporidium?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis. Both the parasite and the disease are commonly known as “Crypto.”

"There are many species of Cryptosporidium that infect animals, some of which also infect humans," CDC scientists wrote on the agency's website. "The parasite is protected by an outer shell that allows it to survive outside the body for long periods of time and makes it very tolerant to chlorine disinfection."

While this parasite can be spread in several different ways, scientists added, water (drinking water and recreational water) is the most common way to spread the parasite. Cryptosporidium is a leading cause of waterborne disease among humans in the U.S., officials added.

Cryptosporidiosis symptoms

Symptoms of Cryptosporidiosis generally begin 2 to 10 days (average 7 days) after becoming infected with the parasite, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The most common symptom of cryptosporidiosis is watery diarrhea. Symptoms include:

• Watery diarrhea
• Stomach cramps or pain
• Dehydration
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Fever
• Weight loss

Some people with Crypto will have no symptoms at all, according to the website. Symptoms usually last about 1 to 2 weeks (with a range of a few days to 4 or more weeks) among those with healthy immune systems. Sometimes, officials added, people may experience a recurrence of symptoms after a brief period of recovery before the illness ends. Symptoms can come and go for up to 30 days, according to information found in the portal.

"While the small intestine is the site most commonly affected, in immunocompromised persons Cryptosporidium infections could possibly affect other areas of the digestive tract or the respiratory tract," officials wrote. "People with weakened immune systems may develop serious, chronic, and sometimes fatal illness."

Examples of people with weakened immune systems include:

• people with HIV/AIDS;
• those with inherited diseases that affect the immune system; and
• cancer and transplant patients who are taking certain immunosuppressive drugs.

The risk of developing severe disease may differ depending on each person’s degree of immune suppression, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Treatment

Most people who have healthy immune systems will recover without treatment, the Centers for Disease Control reported. Those afflicted with diarrhea can mitigate the issue by drinking plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Young children and pregnant women may be more susceptible to dehydration resulting from diarrhea and should drink plenty of fluids while ill, scientists advised. "Rapid loss of fluids from diarrhea may be especially life threatening to babies," officials added. "Therefore, parents should talk to their healthcare providers about fluid replacement therapy options for infants."

While anti-diarrheal medicine may help slow down the onset of diarrhea, a healthcare provider should be consulted before such medicine is taken. Nitazoxanide has been FDA-approved for treatment of diarrhea caused by Cryptosporidium in people with healthy immune systems and is available by prescription, scientists wrote. However, officials added, the effectiveness of nitazoxanide in immunosuppressed individuals is unclear.

According to the website, HIV-positive individuals who suspect they have cryptosporidiosis should contact their healthcare provider. For those afflicted with HIV/AIDS, anti-retroviral therapy that improves the immune status will also decrease or eliminate symptoms of cryptosporidiosis. However, even if symptoms disappear, cryptosporidiosis is often not curable and the symptoms may return if the immune status worsens, officials warned.

For more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control website. The video below also details cryptosporidiosis: