Inform Residents Of Water Problems

            The town of Chatham had no legal obligation to inform residents that 11 of the 63 water samples taken throughout the public water supply system in September indicated the presence of coliform bacteria.  No legal obligation, maybe, but a moral one, definitely.

            There was apparently no health threat --- no need to boil water --- and the coliform readings disappeared after one of the water storage tanks was chlorinated and the system was flushed.  Residents, however, deserved to be informed of the results of the test, and told that additional chlorine was being pumped into their drinking water.

            While chlorination is an effective way to disinfect drinking water, it can also form toxins called trihalomethanes (THMs), which have been linked to health problems including asthma, heart disease and bladder cancer.  Studies have also linked “moderate to heavy” consumption of chlorinated water to higher rates of miscarriage and birth defects.  These are no doubt at the extreme “fear” end of the concerns about chlorine; at the other, less dramatic end is the terrible taste high chlorination gives to the water, as well as its drying out effect on the skin.  It is, after all, a chemical.  When you get out of a public pool, with its distinctive odor of chlorine, you’re advised to shower.  Seems logical to expect to be advised when the levels of chlorine in your drinking water are increased.

            We understand that under the conditions experienced in Chatham last month, neither the state nor the federal governments require immediate notification of water users.  The only requirement was publication of a notice, which appears in this week’s paper, and notation of the incident in the water department’s annual water quality report. 

            Yet the town has inexpensive and effective ways to inform residents that contamination has been found in the water system and additional chlorine is going to be added to drinking water.  A notice could be posted prominently on the town’s website, and telephone calls can be made using the town’s automatic emergency notification system.

            It seems as if coliform bacteria is detected in town’s water system a few times a year, usually when the weather changes and the biofilm that builds up inside water mains drops off.  Officials should adopt a policy of immediately informing the 90 percent of residents on town water when contaminated samples exceed the state standard of 5 percent of those taken in a given month, and when chlorine is added to the system.  That would arm residents who have concerns about chlorine, either for health or aesthetic reasons, with the knowledge they need to take effective action.  It’s simple, it’s easy, and next time, we expect it will be done.

10/15/09 

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