THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507180450
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover story
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
PUBLIC UTILITIES Director James Spacek is used to being tested.
About 120,000 residents of Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Suffolk judge the city's water everyday.
When they turn on the tap, he said, they're looking at two things:
Is it clear? And how does it smell?
``Those are nifty indicators, but if you look at bacteria and metals and everything else it really doesn't tell you anything,'' he said.
But where public testing sometimes ends, the federal guidelines increasingly pick up.
Lead and copper make up just the third phase in an ongoing list of chemicals and pollutants - from arsenic to metals and pesticides - for which federal regulations will require testing in coming years.
David Haddaway, the department's chief chemist, said the testing will be a combination of monitoring the source water as well as samples of water from distribution sites throughout the city.
``It's an enormous undertaking,'' said Haddaway. ``There's not a lab in Virginia geared up to do everything, short of the state. Even they, I don't think, have all the capabilities.''
It's also an expensive prospect and one that has drawn some criticism as being too extreme.
``One of the proposals before Congress now in amending the Safe Water Drinking Act is . . . that you test for those things that have the most health significance,'' Spacek said.
Spacek agrees with that. He believes testing should be done for those things that are a significant health risk and that the regulations should not become so extreme that water suppliers are ``out there spending for testing for testing's sake.''
The other way of thinking, he said, is that ``you test for everything just to see what's in there and worry about the public health consequences later - sort of like an inventory.''
But, Spacek said, that's a controversy being played out in Congress right now.
Whatever the outcome, one thing is clear. Environmental concerns are destined to drive up the cost of turning on the tap.
The $23 million bond referendum passed last year will help. About $14.9 million of that will be spent on improved treatment at the water plant, Spacek said.
Money also will be spent replacing infrastructure and pipes in some parts of town.
``But then again, we have a lot of other things on the horizon,'' he said.
One of those is the older transmission mains that carry water from the plant to Portsmouth. One is 105 years old this year. Another is 78 years old.
``They're not going to last forever,'' he said.
It's a major expense that his department is already planning for, he said.
``You have to look at all the pieces and those pieces are . . . protection of the lakes, the treatment process you use, the piping in your distribution system and the water quality monitoring that you do.''
Spacek compares it to owning a house.
``There's always something that needs to be done, whether it's a new roof or new siding or a new sink or faucet, and we've got to set priorities . . . If you neglect to do them, the cost later is usually higher.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Haddaway
Graphic
CHECK IT OUT
Copies of the lead and copper testing results can be viewed at
any branch of the Portsmouth Public Library or at City Hall.
Residents with questions about the testing program or their own
water should call a Water Quality representative at 539-2201.
by CNB