But you still need to activate your account.
RUTLAND, Vt. — If Francis Tobin wants a glass of water, he has to get it off his stove.
The same goes for about 30 other families in Tobin’s Gleason Road neighborhood.
And it’s been that way since 1971, when the state health department first told area residents to boil their water before drinking it.
Now in its 19th year, the Gleason Road notice is the oldest one in Vermont. To make matters worse, the state has classified the system as being on “indefinite boil.”
“It’s a bad situation,” said Joseph Zingale, the administrative assistant to the Rutland Board of Selectmen. “Every time it’s tested they say `Don’t drink the water.’ ”
Boiling the water is meant to compensate for the fact that the neighborhood’s water flows directly from a mountainside brook into household taps. There is no chemical treatment, no filtration system and no protective covering for the dammed-up brook.
“All this is is a mountain stream subject to bird droppings, animals, kids or anything without any treatment,” Tobin said while surveying the brook at the end of a secluded mountain trail. “I’m sure that stuff is in there that has the potential to create health problems.”
The water also travels through 90-year-old pipes that likely do not meet current federal standards, Tobin said.
But Tobin and his neighbors are not alone in their drinking water woes. The Gleason Road system is one of 36 water systems in Vermont, used by thousands of people, where people have to boil the water before drinking it.
In addition, people using two of those 36 systems — at mobile home parks in Dummerston and Milton — are under orders not to drink their water at all, no matter how long they boil it.
Federal officials say the problem is probably worse than documented. A recent congressional study said some drinking water violations in Vermont may be hidden by improper tests or falsified records.
“Falsifying data and manipulating test results are relatively easy to accomplish, and ample evidence exists that the practices are occurring,” Richard Hembra, environmental issues director for the federal General Accounting Office, recently told a U.S. House subcommittee.
Besides the health concerns, the issue of unsafe drinking water is a black eye on the environmentally conscious face of Vermont.
“Obviously, we’re very concerned about the boil-water orders and what it says about drinking water in Vermont,” said George Hamilton, director of the Office of Policy Research and Planning. “This issue is going to get bigger and bigger over the next several years.”
At least one environmentalist agreed, saying Vermont’s environmental face may get a few more bruises before the problem is corrected.
“With the increasing amounts of toxics and other pollutants going into surface waters, there’s clearly a long-term threat,” said Ned Farquhar, executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council. “Thirty boil-water orders is nothing compared to what we could be facing in the future.”
The boil-water orders are issued by the managers of the various systems at the request of the Vermont Department of Health. Terence Macaig, operations director for the department’s environmental health division, said drinking water supplies are tested anywhere from once a month to 20 or 30 times a month, depending on the system’s size.
Macaig said boil-water notices are issued for violating federal drinking water standards for:
Bacterial contamination. At least 20 of the 36 systems on boil notices contain excessively high levels of coliform. That bacteria is usually associated with human sewage and animal excrement.
“It should not be present in water systems,” Macaig said.
Consumption of coliform-contaminated water can cause gastrointestinal illnesses. Most water systems use chemicals to eliminate the bacteria.
Turbidity. This refers to the sediment content of the water. Systems usually filter out these microscopic particles. In South Hero, two water districts have high sediment levels which increase after heavy rains and on windy days.
System deficiencies. At least three systems are on notices for construction deficiencies. These can range from an unprotected water supply to crumbling pipes to an inadequate well cover.
Inadequate emergency source. Every water system is required to have a backup source in the event of an emergency. At least three systems have emergency backups that are not suitable for drinking.
Chemical contamination. Some hazardous chemicals are unaffected, or may even be strengthened, by boiling. This leads to “do not drink” notices.
Gleason Road’s “indefinite boil” order stems from the lack of treatment for an unprotected water source. Turning on the tap is akin to sticking a glass in the brook and drinking it.
Tobin, who moved to the neighborhood in 1974, is a member of the committee that oversees the water system. Despite the state notice, Tobin said he only started boiling the water recently at the urging of his wife.
“What do you drink when you open up a beer can or a Coke can?” he said. “I’ve got a feeling that a lot of people don’t bother to boil it.”
Tobin has installed a home-filtration system and also has a well in his backyard as an option.
In South Hero, two of the three water districts have been on boil-water notices since at least 1980. Ron Hackett, a district treasurer, said the water that is drawn from Lake Champlain is not properly treated before it comes out of the tap.
Hackett said some residents use bottled water. But many others just drink the water from the tap, figuring that if it hasn’t hurt them by now, then there’s no cause for alarm.
“People have not boiled their water for 10 years,” he said. “We haven’t.”
He said the district hopes to vote on a $1 million bond referendum this fall to build a pumping station, treatment plant and piping system by mid-1992.
“I’m optimistic that it would pass,” Hackett said. “I think people realize they’ve got to do something.”
Drinking water quality improvements comprised a major portion of Gov. Madeleine Kunin’s proposed Third Century Trust. That proposal, which would have committed $350 million for environmental infrastructure improvements during the next decade, was rejected by the Legislature this year.
But Hamilton said the state has allocated $10 million in the current fiscal year, up from $6 million last year, for drinking water system improvements. He said it will take a decade of continuous work to bring every drinking water system in Vermont up to federal specifications.
“We are trying to get our act together,” Hamilton said. “We’re willing to commit significant resources even though we’re not a rich state.”
Tobin said the state better fix his system sooner than the year 2000.
“They’re going to have to do something,” he said. “It can’t go on this way.”
Comments
comments for this post are closed