DATE: Saturday, November 15, 1997           TAG: 9711150336

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   41 lines

SALT LEVEL DROPS, HELPING TASTE OF CHESAPEAKE WATER

They've called it briny or salty or downright nasty.

But Friday, tap water drinkers in Great Bridge and Greenbrier could describe their H20 as better tasting.

Chloride levels in Chesapeake's water supply from the Northwest River, serving about 71,000 residents, which had topped out at 481 parts per million earlier this year, dropped below 250 parts. That means water that once tasted like a salt-soured cocktail now is below the federal threshold for taste - 205 on Friday.

``We were above 250 parts per million for 91 days this year, roughly August 15 through today,'' Chesapeake Public Utilities Assistant Director Jim Walski said Friday.

Still, those on sodium-restricted diets should watch out. Friday's sodium level of 103 is still far above the level of recommended 20 sodium parts per million for those with high blood pressure and other sodium-linked conditions.

Recent rainfall in the city and winds blowing from the north may have contributed to the decline of the chloride level.

``When the wind is from the south, it sometimes means that the water in the Currituck Sound travels into our water supply,'' Walski said.

``But there are just too many factors at work to say what caused'' the drop.

Walski said citizen complaints over the city's notoriously briny water have been less frequent than in the past.

Chloride levels in 1997 have not come close to the more than 1,600 parts per million found last in 1995.

``The customers know we are working on updating the water treatment plant'' to remove salt from the water, he said. ``And the high chloride numbers this year kind of paled in comparison to other years.''

And for predictions on future salty spikes in the drinking water this year?

Walski declined to offer his own forecast, saying only that ``as a general rule, the summer is about the worst time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

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