THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 8, 1995 TAG: 9508080240
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANCIE LATOUR, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
They were praying for torrential rains, but what they got was far, far less.
Despite Sunday's showers, Chesapeake residents saw salt levels in their water supply surge again. The chloride count climbed to 857 parts per million on Monday from 776 on Sunday; sodium rose to 429 parts per million from 388.
Monday morning's readings were a disappointment to Water Production Administrator Frank Sanders, who has spent the past month watching salt levels at the Northwest River Treatment Plant rise to their highest levels in 10 years.
``What came down yesterday was basically enough to feed the grass and wet the ground,'' Sanders said of Sunday's rain. ``What we need right now is quite a few days of rain, straight, and what would be best would be to get 2 to 5 inches.''
Only that kind of steady downpour, Sanders said, will send enough freshwater runoff into the Northwest River - Chesapeake's main source of water - to push saltwater back down river toward the Currituck Sound.
Not only was the rainfall insufficient, but southern and southeasterly winds continued to push the brackish water from the sound toward the Northwest River, Sanders said.
And there's little he can do about it.
``Basically,'' he said, ``we're answering a bunch of questions and giving out as much information as we can. But right now, it's about waiting for something to change.''
Salt levels have soared since July, marking the second time the briny water has inundated the Northwest River Treatment Plant since the city began tapping the river in 1980. Chloride amounts are three times higher than the 250-parts-per-million federal standard.
The water's sodium content has also risen to more than 15 times what doctors recommend for patients on salt-restricted diets. Though sodium itself is tasteless, it poses a potential health risk to those who suffer from high blood pressure or kidney problems and for patients on medications that react chemically to salt.
The dread of salty water is beginning to take on a mythical status. Sanders said he has begun to field calls from Virginia Beach residents demanding to know why their water is salty and when it will end. Sanders has to tell them that the Northwest River Treatment Plant does not serve Virginia Beach.
The only other times Chesapeake's supply has climbed to such salt levels were in 1985 and 1986, when severe drought and persistent winds off the ocean combined during two consecutive summers. Salinity levels then reached more than 1,600 parts per million, about twice the levels seen this summer. Ocean water is about 35,000 parts per million.
As it did a decade ago, lack of rainfall in the crucial month of July set the stage for the sharp increase in sodium and chloride levels. Only 1 inch of rain fell last month, 5 inches short of the city's average rainfall for that period.
A 318 million-gallon underground well near the Hampton Roads Airport is providing some relief to residents. The city built the aquifer in 1990 to avert high-salt situations, and has been banking its treated water in times of plenty so that it can be drawn from in times of drought.
Since July 23, 3 million gallons of that stored water has been pumped daily into the city's pipelines. Residents in Bowers Hill and some parts of Deep Creek benefit the most, being closest to the aquifer. About 266 million gallons remain in the reservoir.
Other sections of the city are unaffected because they receive water from Norfolk and Portsmouth. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Chesapeake water
Sodium and Chloride count
For copy of graphic, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE WATER SODIUM CHLORIDE by CNB