THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 29, 1994 TAG: 9406290420
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF HOOTEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940629 LENGTH: CHESAPEAKE
City Manager James W. Rein told the City Council Tuesday that he will impose mandatory water restrictions if chloride and sodium levels didn't go down by then.
{REST} Dry weather and brackish water blown in from the Currituck Sound have caused those levels to soar. Residents using water from the Northwest River can taste it in their taps.
Most of the city is served by Northwest River water, although some portions receive water from Norfolk or Portsmouth. However, if imposed, the mandatory water restrictions would be citywide.
Proposed restrictions include:
Lawns couldn'tbe watered or pools filled.
Watering of shrubbery or washing cars could only be done with a 3 gallon bucket.
Serving water in restaurants would be by request only.
On Tuesday, the city offered an option to citizens concerned by the high levels of sodium and chloride in their tap water: Bring jugs to a local fire station and fill up with less smelly or salty water.
The Chesapeake Public Utilities Department said drinking water will be available at the Rokeby, Portlock and Bowers Hill fire stations, as well as any station in the Western Branch area. The water at these stations comes from Norfolk or Portsmouth systems.
Tuesday, the city's water supply from the Chesapeake Water Treatment Plant on the Northwest River had 436 milligrams of chloride per liter, giving it an unpleasant salty taste.
The sodium content was 218 milligrams per liter.
High sodium levels do not affect taste, but residents on severely restricted sodium diets should avoid drinking city water. Chloride can cause an unpleasant odor and salty taste but isn't generally considered a health risk.
The highest levels in recent history occurred in 1985 and 1986, when the chloride level soared to more than 1,000 milligrams per liter. Then, residents stood in lines to fill up jugs with good water.
The last time the city's chloride level prompted warnings was in the summer of 1992, when it reached 410 milligrams per liter. The federal standard for a ``taste threshold'' is 250 milligrams per liter.
City officials attribute the high levels to the area's recent lack of rainfall: 1.6 inches have fallen in that past month. Normal rainfall is about 4 inches.
On Sunday evening, the city began pumping water from its deep wells in the Bowers Hill area to reduce the overall chloride content in the system. The well water has less chloride and is therefore more palatable, but is significantly higher in sodium.
``It's a tradeoff of taste vs. sodium,'' said Amar Dwarkanath, director of public utilities, ``but at some point we can pump in the water that we've stored in the Aquifer Storage and Recovery well in Western Branch. That won't relieve the entire Northwest River system, but it will give partial relief.''
Dwarkanath said some sections of Chesapeake aren't affected because they receive their water from either Portsmouth or Norfolk. The affected areas of the city include Greenbrier, Great Bridge, Crestwood, southern Chesapeake and parts of Deep Creek.
For a long-term solution to the problem, Dwarkanath said the city is considering a desalinization plant on the Northwest River.
As for the immediate problem, Dwarkanath had only one answer: ``We need some good rain. There's not much we can do until we get some normal precipitation.''
by CNB