City water below standard in January
A routine test of the City of Sonoma water system in January revealed a non-emergency violation of the drinking water standard.
The problem has been resolved, according to a statement released by the city Wednesday.
In January 12 water samples were taken to test for the presence of coliform bacteria, and two were positive. The standard is that no more than one sample per month may do so.
Coliform bacteria are generally not harmful themselves. Coliforms are bacteria which are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present.
None of the bacteria were found in subsequent testing, the statement said.
On Monday, the city was told by the County Health Department to include a notice of the violation in the water bill. If the water quality tested at emergency levels customers would have been notified immediately.
U.S. Census forms arriving this week
The once-in-a-decade census questionnaires have begun arriving in local mailboxes. Census officials urge people to fill out their 2010 census questionnaire and mail it back as soon as possible.
The 10-question form should take less than 10 minutes to complete, and using the mail can save millions of taxpayer dollars. It costs the government just 44 cents for a postage- paid envelope for mailed forms – but the U.S. Census Bureau pays $57 to send a census taker door-to-door to follow up with each household which fails to respond.
In 2000, the nation reversed a three-decade decline in mail rates, achieving a participation rate of 72 percent.
The census takes place on April 1, 2010. Census data determine boundaries for state and local legislative and congressional districts. More than $400 billion in federal funds are distributed annually based on census data to pay for local programs and services such as free lunch for low-income students, vocational training, road construction and emergency services.
For more information about language assistance guides and translations of the form, which are available in 59 languages, visit 2010census.gov
The U.S. Constitution requires that everyone living in the United States be counted every ten years. All census information collected, including addresses, is strictly confidential. By law, the U.S. Census Bureau can’t share respondents’ answers with any government agency such as the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, welfare and immigration. No court of law or law enforcement agency can find out respondents’ answers. All U.S. Census Bureau employees – including temporary employees – take an oath for life to keep census information confidential. Any violation of that oath is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.