Residents boiling over bad water

His temper is at the boiling point.

Bealeton resident Gerald F. McMullan II said he’s been buying bottled water for his family and dogs since the county’s Water and Sanitation Authority (WSA) issued a “boil water” notice in late October.

The WSA issued the notice after discovering damage and contamination in the Mintbrook well. The well, which serves a big chunk of Bealeton, including three schools, was likely damaged in the 5.8 magnitude earthquake Aug. 23, according to WSA officials.

McMullan said the notice still hasn’t been lifted, and the agency is ignoring customers’ concerns.

“The WSA is ignoring us or telling us to just live with it,” McMullan said. “If they can’t provide potable water, we shouldn’t be paying for it. They have had enough time to do something. “

McMullan said he has contacted the board of supervisors about the issue and finds their lack of response irritating.

Sharon Mellon, who lives in the Liberty Run subdivision shares his frustration.

For one thing, Mellon doesn’t think the WSA issued the initial notice in a timely fashion. Now the agency’s inability to provide a specific time frame for the repairs while continuing to charge her is irksome, too. “I feel we pay a ton of money for water. Others get clean water, and we have to boil ours or supplement [our drinking water],” she said.

Mellon said her last monthly water bill was $125. In the summer, it can be $200. On top of that, she said she is spending $4 or $5 per day for bottled water.

She will continue to do so until the notice is rescinded.

“I wrote to the WSA, and they said the water is clean and okay for everyday use, but that the health department required them to put the boil water notice in effect,” Mellon said. “I’m not going to trust that.”

Like McMullan, Mellon said she contacted Lee District Supervisor Chester Stribling about her concerns, but as of Wednesday she hadn’t gotten a response.

Stribling said he is aware of the complaints and has referred them to WSA Chairman Paul Blackmer so everyone can get the same answer from one person.

“I am aware of [the customers’] plight, and I am sympathetic to it,” Stribling said. “I wish we could solve the problem faster.”

In a statement posted on its web site Jan. 6, the WSA said it is working with the state health department to “rectify” the well issues.

“We will move forward to correct the situation once we have met the regulatory testing requirements, which, in turn, will determine our direction for meeting their requirements,” the agency said.

“The drinking water to your home continues to be clean, as proven by test results. As a precaution, the boil water notice will remain in effect and we do not anticipate this notice being removed in the near future,” the WSA said.

On its web site, the WSA also provides a more detailed account of what prompted the issuance of the advisory and what has been done since.

The agency said routine water-quality testing of the B1 Mintbrook well “suggested that it was potentially being affected by the intrusion of surface water, as indicated by an elevated presence of e-coli bacteria.”

The WSA then followed health department protocols, which called for a thorough evaluation.

“Throughout the entirety of these processes, there has been no indication of the presence of e-coli in the distribution system of the Bealeton water system, and the water within the distribution system has been and continues to be in full compliance with all of the water-quality regulatory standards of both the commonwealth’s and federal requirements,” the agency said.

Even so, the WSA said the health department directed it to issue the boil water notice.

Any questions regarding the notice should be directed to the health department, the WSA said.

It is safe to wash, rinse dishes and use the water for “any household application you choose without boiling it,” the WSA told its customers.

Meanwhile, the WSA continues to work with consultants to determine whether the well can be fixed or whether another well can be used to serve the area.

“Because the situation is so fluid…we do not have all the data we need to make a definitive decision in this matter,” the WSA said. “Further and for many of the same reasons, we cannot encapsulate our daily activities or options into a simple soundbite.”

All of that is of little comfort to McMullan.

“I’m almost 50, and I’ve never been anywhere in the United States where I haven’t been able to drink the water,” he said. “The bottom line is the well needs to be fixed.”