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Stetson students listen as city Lab Tech II, Larissa McCoy, explains the testing requirements for the municipal water supply on Thursday, April 13.<\/i><\/p>\n
Stetson University students toured the city of DeLand\u2019s water facilities on Thursday, April 13, and learned about the extensive testing and monitoring to ensure safe drinking water for the campus and rest of the city.<\/p>\n
The students from a Foundation of Environmental Health Sciences class visited the Utilities Department and learned how the city uses deep wells to pump water from the Floridan Aquifer, treats and filters it, and then monitors it continuously as it\u2019s piped throughout the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cFive million gallons of water a day \u2014 every day,\u201d said John Stanberry<\/b>, DeLand Water Production superintendent. \u201cWe take a lot of pride in keeping our community in water. \u2026 Nobody ever realizes what goes into it, day in and day out. We basically run 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tour came after a class project on water quality testing by Nicole Porther, Ph.D.<\/b>, a visiting assistant professor of public health. Porther said her students used test strips for their project, and not sophisticated instruments like what they saw in the city\u2019s testing lab on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Follow-up tests by the city of DeLand and an independent laboratory found the water is safe for drinking at Stetson, and meets all state and federal requirements.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really are subject to a lot of environmental regulation,\u201d explained Keith Riger<\/b>, director of DeLand\u2019s Public Services.<\/p>\n
Larissa McCoy<\/b>, city Lab Tech II, went through the lengthy list of required tests and showed students a large binder filled with some of the regulations on tests, duplicate tests and the proper calibration of the city\u2019s lab equipment.<\/p>\n
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Nicole Porther, Ph.D., talks to students in her class, including Catie Hessler (in green shirt), during a tour of the DeLand Utilities Department. Keith Riger, director of DeLand\u2019s Public Services, listens in the back.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cIt gets complicated,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The students and professor Porther said the tour was informative. \u201cIt was nice to see how much they value quality control, which I knew, and that is very important,\u201d Porther said.<\/p>\n
Stetson senior Anna Miner <\/b>said, as a public health major, she was very interested in a discussion about adding fluoride to municipal water supplies, which has been shown to reduce tooth decay in children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did it specifically to help children\u2019s teeth and I think that\u2019s a really nice touch,\u201d said Miner, who will attend graduate school at Tulane University in the fall. \u201cIt shows it\u2019s not just science. It\u2019s actually caring about the community.\u201d<\/p>\n