Patterson council: Don't mess with water sampling boxes

By Shea Drake
sdrake@daily-review.com
PATTERSON — Patterson City Water Plant supervisor Sharon Gillum reported lock tampering of a water sampling station’s box in the Shady Grove area at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Sampling stations are used to monitor the city’s water system. The water plant is required to take key samplings. They’re taken from those specific sample boxes. “We ask the public please do not touch them,” Gillum said.
The water was sampled on a Saturday and by Wednesday, the water plant staff noticed the lock was broken off one of the boxes.
“They hacked into it with something by hitting it, marking it and bending it,” Gillum said. “Then eventually broke it off.” The lock was been replaced.
The plant staff tested the water a couple of times, flushed it, and took water samples to make sure it was safe.
Sampling stations are locked in areas easily accessible to children and the general public. However, stations in remote areas are not.
“As far as safety reasons, we don’t want anyone to tamper with them,” Gillum said. “You can put anything in them and it will backflow into the system. Therefore, we keep them locked,” he said.
Patterson has 15 sampling stations checked weekly. There are extra stations required by the state throughout the city.
Overall sampling stations are checked daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly.
“We have to test it daily throughout the whole process to make sure it is safe to consume,” Gillum said. “And one of those ways is checking it in the distribution system to make sure it’s still safe once it leaves the plant.”
Gillum and the staff talked to Shady Grove area residents, asking them to keep an eye on them. If neighbors saw any questionable activity, they were asked to say something and call the police department. “It is a violation,” Gillum said.
There are plans to design do not tamper stickers for water stations. “We’ve got to do what we have to do to protect the public’s water source,” Gillum said.
In other news, Pelican Waste & Debris started picking up trash Monday. This is the last week Pelican empties trash from Progressive cans.
Next week, Pelican is going to pick up only the blue cans, which is what residents are paying for, Mayor Rodney Grogan said.
Pelican-issued trashcans are coded according to their original drop-off locations. People started stealing trashcans as soon as Pelican delivered them, Grogan said.