By Jason Clay Jansky

Water quality in each of the county’s four cities currently meets federal standards set by the Food and Drug Administration, according to local city leaders.

Water quality reports published near the end of June this year showed Runge, Falls City, and Karnes City met all FDA standards, and Kenedy met all standards save for their arsenic levels.

Kenedy’s water and wastewater systems are currently managed by Veolia Water.

"We didn’t have the arsenic absorber online," Veolia Water Project Manager Ray "Rebel" Borroum said. "Basically we were trying to get approval to get away from using sulfuric acid to (treat the water.) On the arsenic removal, we’re within the standard now. I think the rest of (the work) is just trying to get everything tweaked."

Borroum said the water in town has been tested twice since the city’s new arsenic treatment system went online, and both times the arsenic levels were below the maximum amount allowed by the FDA. On May 14, the first sample from the new system showed an arsenic level of 6 parts per billion (ppb) which is below the 10 ppb threshold.

Installation of the new system went slower than Kenedy city officials would have liked due to the relatively new approach the city was taking to arsenic treatment.

Kenedy’s treatment program is based off another city in Arizona and communications between both states’ agencies had been drawn out, Borroum said.

Kenedy currently operates four different water wells and is in the process of completing work on a fifth well, which will have a higher flow rate than all of the other wells and a lower amounts of arsenic than most of them.

"The flow rate is far better than any of them. In fact, it’s almost as good as probably two of them together," Borroum said.

Kenedy currently faces the largest water demands in the county, having to provide not only to Karnes County’s largest city, but also to the Connally Unit state prison just south of town.

Water quality reports from the other three cities all showed contaminate levels below maximum allowed amounts.

"Everything looks good," Falls City Secretary Lauren Sturm said of her city’s current and past water conditions.

Runge previously has had issues keeping up with arsenic treatment, but thanks to a grant and several system upgrades, the town is pumping water within acceptable levels once again, according to Mayor Homer Lott, Jr.

"As far as arsenic, we’re below the standard. The rest is fine, too. I know we’re meeting all the standards," Lott said.

Karnes City Administrator Larry Pippen had the same to say about his city.

"We meet any and all rules and regulations of the TCEQ (and) we do not exceed any of the (standards). We’re under their maximum," he said. "We’ve still got excellent potable water."

Many cities across South Texas have struggled with arsenic issues since the EPA severely tightened standards in 2001, slashing the maximum contaminate level from 50 parts per billion down to 10 parts per billion — an overall reduction of 80 percent.