Water, Water, Everywhere . . .

And not a drop to drink.   The Water Quality Advisory Committee had its fish fry Sunday afternoon, Sept 30.  About fifty people came to share a meal, discuss issues with water quality, and hear presentations.  A DEQ representative talked about the efforts to find the source of the fish kills.  He said many possible reasons had been investigated, but none had yet been considered the source.  A citizen in the audience asked about the possibility that the nitrogen the Merck plant is dumping into the water was the source.   The citizen said the Merck plant had increased the nitrogen levels, under a permit.  It was unclear whether that had been considered as a possibility.  Further investigation is ongoing.

There is a report available on the status of the water quality investigations.  You can get it at the county office, 743-4142.   There will be more informational meetings for citizens held in the future.  PCW will post them whenever we hear about them.  There is also a website at http://www.pagewaterquality.org

Be wary!  The statistics used in the report are 15 years old.  In 1992, it says 22% of Page County wells had fecal cloriform bacteria in them.  But in 1992, a goodly number of Page County wells were not associated with houses that had indoor plumbing.   Significant progress has been made to install septic systems since then.