Residents quizzed the Altamont City Council this week about the odor, color and bad taste of city water.
Water complaints from residents and explanations from officials took up more than half of the Aug. 25 meeting. Some residents say the water issues have been going on for multiple years.
“I know that it’s complicated,” said Altamont resident Kyle Stuemke, whose water has been non-potable for several months each year for the previous five years. “I just think it’s just unacceptable at this point.”
One resident asked the council for a credit on their water bill.
“I’m buying everything to drink, plus I’m paying for water,” the resident said. “We need you guys to give us some help. We’re all having to buy water.”
Mayor Mike Walker said the council will discuss the possibility of giving residents a water bill credit during the next city council meeting.
“I live here, too. I don’t have a special water pump piped in from a fabulous well somewhere outside of town,” said Walker. “I suffer through the same things you guys do. I wash my laundry in the same water you guys do. I shower in the same water that you guys do. I understand what you guys are going through.”
Although Walker said connecting with EJ Water – the city’s emergency water supply – is only for emergencies, Stuemke suggested the city consider making it a permanent solution.
“If we switched to an outside water supplier, we’re still going to be on our distribution system. They’re not going to take that over, and we’re still going to fight these same problems that we have if it’s in the distribution,” said Commissioner Terry White. “Right now, we’re working with a problem that we believe started at the plant, and that’s where we’re treating it.”
White said part of the reason is the manganese that all surface lakes have which gets into the city’s water system. Some lakes have more manganese than others, and the amount depends on multiple factors.
Although not the biggest reason, the water main construction project is also contributing to the change in water quality due to shifting pipes and pipes releasing stuff to change the water color. Unpredictable pressure in the water pipes also results in discolored water in some areas more than others. However, the new water main should help water flow which would aid the city’s water treatments.
City officials are using copper sulfate every seven to 10 days to treat the algae in the lake that supplies the city’s water.
“We are working on it. We started working on this months ago because we wanted to make sure this didn’t happen again this season,” said White. “We looked at everything possible in our book of tricks of methods of doing things to make sure we haven’t missed anything.”
White recently traveled to other local water treatment plants that are designed similar to Altamont’s. He hopes to gain insight of what the council needs to do: maybe they missed something or maybe an operator can suggest new ideas. He will report his findings during the next city council meeting.
White said there are solutions that might take care of the issues, but they cost millions of dollars. Altamont’s new water main should also help with water flow, aiding the city’s water treatments.
The next city council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. where the council will discuss White’s findings and a possible water bill credit.