Louisa’s water contaminated

Local and state officials are hoping granular activated carbon will solve the problem of the town of Louisa’s contaminated drinking water.
Members of the Virginia Department of Health, Louisa County Water Authority and others met this month to discuss options to lower levels of haloacetic acids in the town’s water.

Bar Delk, the authority’s general manager, said he wants to replace part of the water filters with the inexpensive carbon within the next 30 days. However, changing the filters and finding the right type of carbon can be time consuming.
“It will have to be something we keep working on, and there will be some trial and error to find out what works,” Delk said.
The state agency sent a notice of violation to the town in September because the town’s haloacetic acids level surpassed the 60 parts per billion maximum by two ppb.

Haloacetic acids, which are also known as HAA5s, are created when chlorine used to disinfect water reacts to organic material such as disintegrating leaves. Douglas Caldwell, the state agency’s field director in Lexington, has said town residents won’t see an adverse impact in the short term.
Animal studies have shown consuming HAA5s over the years may increase the risk of cancer.
Residents recently were sent a letter explaining the contaminant level. Caldwell said it is likely customers will get another letter after fourth-quarter testing because the current HAA5 levels would have to dip very low to keep the average under the maximum.
Although the contaminant levels may not change right away, Caldwell said his office has a “very cooperative working relationship” with the town and will continue to work toward a fix. Caldwell said he believes carbon will be the answer to the drinking water issue.
“Based on the literature, we feel very confident that granular activated carbon will be effective,” Caldwell said.

This violation is the first for the town, which buys its water from the water authority. The authority, which is located in the county, had two violations in 2007 that have since been taken care of. Delk said trying to keep both HAA5s and trihalomethanes under maximum levels can be difficult because the techniques to reduce one tend to raise the levels of the other.
If all else fails, Delk said the town would have to build an additional treatment plant.
“There are last resorts that do work,” Delk said. “They just have significant economic drawbacks.”