Ever hear the phrase “I wouldn’t feed that to my dog?”
Usually reserved for some sort of culinary disaster, this phrase took on a whole new meaning at my house the other day when I drew water from my kitchen sink to fill my dogs’ water bowl.
The water that filled the bowl was a dirty brown. I dumped it out and re-filled it from the gallon jug of water which we have kept in our refrigerator since the water level at Savage Dam became so low that half the sediment from the bottom of the impoundment (or so it seemed) began flowing through our water pipes.
The same day, I decided to take a leisurely bath, and found my bath tub filled with the same disgustingly grubby water. Since I usually jump in and out of the shower in the mornings before work, I had not taken notice of the condition of the water that I was bathing in until I began filling the tub.
I’ve gotta tell you; it was pretty disgusting.
I have not noticed any problem yet with my family’s laundry, but if the water continues to get worse I can only believe that will be next.
We have been buying bottled water for drinking and cooking; will we next have to go out of town to do our laundry?
As of last week, we were told we no longer had to boil our water prior to consumption. Well let me tell you, I wouldn’t give the water that is currently coming through our faucets to my dogs and I’m certainly not going to use it for my family.
From what we have been told, the Town of Westernport had hoped that once the level of the dam got so low that they had to use pumps to get water to our filtration plant, the water would clear up.
Actually, they are now saying it has cleared up and is in usable condition when it leaves the plant.
It’s supposed to be the rusty pipes in between the filtration plant and our homes that is muddying the water and rendering it disgusting.
I understand the need to fix the gates at the dam. That dam is an invaluable water source and provides much-needed flood control, in addition to providing a great place to camp when you’re looking to get away from it all.
Had they not received the funding for the repairs and been forced to eliminate the dam, it would have been a tremendous loss to this area.
What I don’t understand is why the pipes that previously had brought us good, tasty, clean water are now suddenly so bad that they are bringing us liquid sludge.
I also don’t understand why the town, knowing that the dam repair work was being planned, didn’t come up with a workable “Plan B” for delivering usable water to its citizens.
At the last town meeting, it was suggested those who choose not to use the water (how could you NOT choose?) could fill up their jugs at the filtration plant, where the water is supposedly clean. Of course, someone else spoke up and it was decided the Maryland Department of the Environment should be consulted to make sure doing so would not violate any regulations.
I say it’s time for the town to do something – whatever it takes – to get back to providing us with the quality water we are paying for.
Not only do the townspeople deserve better than we’re getting, but it’s getting to the point where it’s a health issue.
Keyser, W.Va. —
