Dye may be visible in Caney River, not harmful
In conjunction with the ongoing Wastewater Treatment Plant Analysis, the City of Bartlesville is conducting tests this week that will cause coloration of the water in the Caney River. The tests are necessary to determine travel times of water in the river, Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen said recently.
“We will be placing a dye into the Caney River starting next Monday (Oct. 2) at several bridge locations: West 1500 Road, State Highway 123 and Hillcrest,” Lauritsen said last week. “The dye will show up as red/pink in the river and is being utilized to test the travel times of water in the river. We’ll start this Monday and the dye will likely be noticeable for several days.”
Lauritsen said the dye will not affect the water quality and is not harmful to the environment.
“The dye is Rhodamine WT, which is a water soluble dye utilized for water tracing,” he said. “It is not harmful to the environment and will dissipate within a couple of days.
The project also calls for probes, which will measure the dye concentration, to be placed at locations in downtown and west Bartlesville.
“We will have probes that we will hang off the State Highway 120 and the 7th Street bridges in town to measure this dye concentration,” Lauritsen said. “It’s basically a box that will be mounted on the bridge with a probe that extends to the water. We are asking the public to please not disturb the probes, if they see them.