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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Montgomery considers
bottled water
By RACHEL COLEMAN
Brown water issues have been plaguing residents in a village of Montgomery
neighborhood for years. A pilot test of a
possible solution is due to begin in just a
few days; however should it be a success,
it will still be some time before residents
see any change to their water, as the solution entails a costly upgrade of the water
system.
Last week, Mayor L. Stephen Brescia
resurrected the idea of providing bottled
water to residents in the affected area,
suggesting that they move forward with
it.
“They pay their water bills anyway
and they’re not getting the services. I’m
in favor of it,” said Village Trustee Mike
Hembury.
The water would be made available
to the affected residents in the Waters
Edge, Dunn Drive and Weaver Street area.
Residents from that area were in attendance at the village board meeting last
week, noting that the water is damaging
clothes and appliances, and most cannot
bring themselves to drink it or bathe with
it.
The off-putting color—shading from
brown to black—is caused by high levels of manganese and iron in the water,
reacting with chlorine treatment. The
combination of the erosion of old cast
iron piping and increasing levels of manganese in the ground water has created a
nightmare for the village residents in the
affected neighborhood.
Don Berger of Waters Edge told the
board that he had been in contact with
the Orange County Department of Health
(DOH), advising them that he is getting
brown water even with double filters
installed at his home.
“They were not aware of that. They
were kind of shocked that I was still getting brown water even with the double
filters,” said Berger.
His neighbor, Carol Monroe of Weaver
Street, told the board that her water had
tested at ten times above the normal level
for manganese.
Department
of
Public
Works
Superintendent Buddy Nelson said the
manganese levels are regularly monitored and up until two years ago were
fairly normal. Then the numbers started
creeping up and no one can tell him why.
“Wherever we’re pulling the water
from, it’s changing,” said Nelson.
Nelson explained that the well could
pull groundwater from different places
underground, up to half a mile away. He
theorized that Hurricanes Irene and Lee
as well as the recent dry weather could
have some part to play in it.
“The changes underground are creating havoc for us,” said Nelson.
Residents expressed concern about
the health of those drinking the water,
especially infants. After the meeting,
Nelson said he looked into the issue with
the DOH and EPA and said it is not a
health concern for adults, but it may be a
concern for infants where a parent is mixing the water with formula which already
contains iron and manganese.
At a previous village board meeting, a
representative from Optimus Engineering
recommended a pilot test of a Green Sand
Filtration system similar to that used in
the Town of Wallkill. The system would
use sand to filter the iron and manganese from the water. Before going to
the expense of installing the system, the
village board decided to have a pilot test
using a sample of the water to determine
exactly what is needed to clear the water.
Nelson said the test is “fairly inexpensive” but the upgrade to the new system
will likely run $200,000, at a minimum.
The system will include pipework, tanks/
filters and an addition to the building at
the Holt Well to house it—but no changes
to residents’ homes.
Nelson said the engineer is building
part of the system and they are currently
waiting on the sand to be delivered, which
should arrive by Thursday. He anticipates starting the pilot test by the end of
this week, or the early part of next week.
Residents will see no change in their
water during the test, as it will only
involve a sample of water from the system, not t HX