Water wells tainted by NC city's sewage discharge

"Aquathin OP-ED Commentary"

Many of you will recall an early Splash NewsBulletin discussing water reuse and "toilet to tap" technology. Some concerns we raised then in that NewsBulletin were as follows:

"AN ADDED NOTE:  One of the issues that is extremely difficult to address in the use of treated black and grey waters concerns the following contaminates present: Heavy metals and radioactive chemicals used in chemotherapy, unused hormonal therapies, unused drugs... all found in human waste. Municipal water plants do not test for these items and removal is expensive. Consider tar and nicotene from billions of cigarettes flushed into toilets, chemical oxidizers used to unclog plumbing...all not monitored presently and costly to treat.  We may very well be considering Point of Entry RODI in the not too distant future. What do you think?"

The quick read article below concerning what I call "the intentional contaminating of our environment" demonstrates that even on a small scale, lack of control exists. You will note in the article below that zero attention is paid to the above afforementioned issues....not because they do not exist...but because they do not exist in the minds of the project administrators! AND there bottled water bandaid is less than little of a cure.

As this NewsBulletin goes to Dealers, Engineers, Customers and more, I respectfully urge each one of you to preserve this message for presentation to your local officials when they initiate discussions for the consideration of waste water spraying, waste water irrigation, toilet to tap. Expect the dialogue to arise especially during times of drought. I love my Aquathin !!   

Water wells tainted by NC city's sewage discharge

RALEIGH, NC — Sewage sludge from this city's wastewater treatment plant contributed to fouling nearby private drinking water wells and tainting groundwater, city officials have acknowledged, according to the News Observer.  The newspaper said the admissions came in a $250,000 study delivered to state environmental regulators, the first of two major reports that will help decide how complex and costly it will be for the city to fix the troubled plant.  City Manager Russell Allen will ask the City Council to spend $270,000 to build a public water line to serve the residents with wells contaminated with nitrogen from sludge the city sprays on nearby fields, the article said.  The city has provided free bottled water to the residents who live near plant, since tests found in August that as many as seven wells were tainted., reported the newspaper. More recent tests whittled the number down to five.  The newspaper said the state Division of Water Quality will examine the report and could require the city to take further corrective steps, said the article.  In June, the division fined the city nearly $74,000 for environmental violations at the plant, mostly for spraying too much sludge, the solids left over after the wastewater treatment process, in 2000 and 2001, said the newspaper. In August, the city agreed to spend $1.3 million to buy an additional 100 acres for spraying sludge, the article said, but the state said it needs to see the groundwater study before it will let the city spray sludge there.

The report says that nitrates from the sludge contributed to potentially harmful contamination in the private wells and high nitrate levels at the plant's boundary, which includes the Neuse River, according to the newspaper.

FOR THE BEST TASTE IN LIFE

Think Aquathin...AquathinK!!

Edited from Tech Bank 1/3/03