Water testing results to be made public
DUNBAR TWP. – Customers of the North Fayette County Municipal Authority will have a better understanding of what goes into their drinking water under mandatory regulations imposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). According to the guidelines, the authority is responsible for collecting water samples, having them properly analyzed and reporting the results and making them available to the public.
The authority was notified by the USEPA in August of its mandatory participation as part of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The EPA is proposing to require the monitoring of 26 chemicals using nine different analytical methods.
Community water systems and non-transient, non-community water systems serving a total population of over 10,000 people are required to participate in which the
Authority provides water service to 14,590 customers.
Every five years the EPA reviews the list of contaminants that are not regulated by national primary drinking water regulation, are known or anticipated to occur at public water systems and may warrant regulation under the Act.
Don Peperak, plant manager, said the authority conducted its first round of testing in 2004 on a quarterly basis and found none of the 15 contaminants listed by the agency.
“They (EPA) require water treatment facilities to test for these perimeters to see which ones are detectable and which ones are regulated in the future,” said Peperak.
Peperak said the authority is scheduled to undergo its second round of testing, which will also be conducted quarterly.
Peperak added the tests cost about $8 each in addition to the other water samples the authority is testing.
The act states that the purpose of monitoring for unregulated contaminants in drinking water is to support the EPA’s decisions concerning future regulation in regards to protecting the public’s health.
“Every year they’re coming up with more and more monitoring requirements,” said Peperak.
In a separate matter, the authority discussed accepting credit/debit cards for payment via the Internet.
The authority said the process should take effect sometime in October following the installation of a cable line to the business office.
Turning to other business, the authority heard from secretary Paul Kendi regarding a proposed tissue mill operator interested in constructing a facility in the Lemont Furnace area of North Union Township.
Kendi said he and authority manager Bob Softcheck met with representatives from ST Paper of Greenbay, Wisconsin to discuss the need for a fresh water flow of 450,000 to 750,000 gallons of water per day.
While Softcheck said the authority would have no problem with providing that amount of water, he noted that it could put local sewage treatment facilities at capacity with having to dispose of it.
Softcheck added the mill would create about 150 new jobs and open in 2008 if it locates to the area.