Chloramines

Why the Change?

The Hannibal Board of Public Works has been in violation of federal drinking water standards since 2012, and has been sending public notices to customers quarterly since the violation began. The violation is related to disinfection byproducts (DBPs).

In 2011, the HBPW hired a consultant to put together a list of options for us to choose that would meet the new federal standards. Of these options, the HBPW Board approved the use of Chloramines as the new water disinfection procedure, and construction began at the Water Treatment Plant in early 2015.

Letters were sent to our larger industrial users prior to the conversion, and mail inserts were sent to all HBPW water users.

On April 4, 2017, the citizens of Hannibal voted to remove the use of ammonia as part of the city’s disinfection system by a vote of 1,259 to 894. The proposition called for the Hannibal Code of Ordinances to be amended to include the ordinance prohibiting the use of ammonia in the public drinking water system within 90 days of approval by City Council.

The Hannibal Board of Public Works is working hard to comply with the ordinance. As such, there are two seperate aspects that the Hannibal Board of Public Works must navigate through in order to achieve compliance. Click on the follow links to learn more about each segment of the process and what the HBPW has been doing to reach it's goals.

TECHNICAL: Removing Ammonia from the Drinking Water

LEGAL: Maintaining Compliance with State and Federal Law

In September 2017, Hannibal City Council repealed and replaced Ordinance No. 4751 and Section 13.03 of the City code substituting in its place an ordinance prohibiting the use of ammonia in the Hannibal public drinking water system. This new ordinance is known as the Safe Drinking Water Chemical Use Reduction Act and give the Hannibal Board of Public Works until March 31, 2020 to remove the use of ammonia in the drinking water.

You can read the full ordinance by clicking Safe Drinking Water Chemical Use Reduction Act.

Part of the Safe Drinking Water Chemical Use Reduction Act requires the HBPW General Manager provide written and oral reports to the City Council on a quarterly basis on the efforts of the HBPW to comply with this ordiance and the regulations of MoDNR. Click on any of the links below to read each report.

General Manager's Report - August 2017