With August being National Water Quality Month, let’s take a look at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, and the city of Havelock’s efforts to ensure that the installation and local community have safe water to use.
Both the MCAS Cherry Point and Havelock water treatment plants are environmental laboratories certified by the North Carolina Department of Water Resources and the Department of Water Quality.
Once every week, with the assistance of the Sailors assigned to the Navy Boat Docks on MCAS Cherry Point, samples are collected from the installation, Fleet Readiness Center East, Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field (MCALF) Bogue, MCALF Atlantic, and Piney Island, North Carolina. Efforts to keep consistent tracking on any changes in water quality are important to maintaining the health and livelihood of Marines and Sailors on base as well as civilians in the local area who depend on a clean, reliable water source.
“We test for microbes, organic and inorganic chemicals, and toxic metals in waste water and drinking water,” said Stephen Reavis, a supervisory chemist working at the Cherry Point water treatment plant.
The lab also tests the drinking water from high-impacted facilities such as the child development center and the MCAS Cherry Point chow hall for any bacterial contamination that may be present to ensure they meet the standards set by various state permits, congressional acts, and Department of Defense regulations.
With water being not only vital for our individual and force health, but for our collective agricultural needs as well, let’s make sure we do our part to ensure we’re keeping each other healthy.
To read more about National Water Quality Month please visit:
http://nationalwaterqualitymonth.org