
DATE: Monday, June 30, 1997                 TAG: 9706300062

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:  133 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * A story in Monday's paper on Chesapeake's problems with salty drinking water should have said that 1986 was one of the driest years in Hampton Roads' recorded history, not 1996. Correction published Tuesday, July 1, 1997. * FRESH WATER SHOULD FLOW IN 2 YEARS

Only two more summers to go.

That's a mantra for city officials as they wait for construction of the state's first reverse-osmosis water treatment plant to be completed. When the plant's $72 million desalination process begins to pump water in late 1998 and the city draws from the Lake Gaston Pipeline in the new millennium, the city's chronic troubles over salt-soured drinking water may finally ebb.

But today there are still no freshness guarantees for large sections of Great Bridge, Greenbrier and Deep Creek until at least the summer of 1999.

Almost half of the city's drinking water supply is pulled from the Northwest River, which flows into the Currituck Sound. Drought conditions or strong southerly winds can force salt water from the sound back up the river and into the treatment plant's water intake.

Rainfall was down by an average of more than an inch in May, and the trend is holding for June, city water officials say. That could forebode a salty summer.

The city's water hot line reported Sunday that the city drinking water from the Northwest River Water Treatment plant contained a chloride level of 82 milligrams per liter of water. That's still 168 milligrams shy of the federal salty taste standard.

``We try to stay out of the forecasting business,'' Francis Sanders, the city's water resources administrator, said when asked for predictions.

Still the city has somesafeguards in place.

Contingency plans for prolonged elevations in briny water - five emergency access wells at about $10,000 apiece for Butts Road Intermediate, Crestwood Intermediate, Greenbrier Primary, B.M. Williams Primary and Deep Creek Central Elementary schools - will be ready next month.

``Some have been drilled. If the chloride level went really high, the purpose of those wells would make them available for the public to fill up bottles,'' Sanders said.

City officials hope such contingency plans won't be needed after the new plant is completed. So far, all of the major excavation work for new buildings, including the reverse-osmosis membrane building, has been completed for the Northwest River Water Treatment Plant upgrade project. The expanded plant on the Battlefield Boulevard not far from the North Carolina state line will treat and desalinate 10 million gallons a day from the Northwest River and four new 1,300-foot groundwater wells.

After traveling up to 16 miles through pipelines, the water will be pushed through membrane cylinders at the plant, filtering out impurities such as sodium and chloride.

Beating back salty water and the resulting public relations problem has never been easy.

1996, one of the driest years in Hampton Roads' recorded history, left Chesapeake reeling from the intrusion of salt water into the drinking supply. The chlorides, which give water its salty taste and briny residue, peaked at 1,300 parts per million - far above the 250-parts-per-million federal threshold.

But it was the summer of 1995 that is remembered as a time when the water tasted like something you should gargle and spit out rather than consume.

Chloride levels reached an all-time zenith at 1,693 parts per million - more than six times higher than the federal threshold.

Sodium levels had risen during that blustery, dry summer to 847 parts per million, or about 35 times what doctors recommend for those suffering from high blood pressure or kidney problems, and those on sodium-restricted diets.

Restaurants spent tens of thousands of dollars on reverse-osmosis systems. Those that didn't, saw customers flee for good water.

``People coming into this area may have heard about it and they wanted to know what it's like after that, but I don't think it had any effect on sales of homes,'' said residential real estate broker Gary Lundholm of Womble Realty Inc.

At times, debating who's responsible for the taste of the water becomes a political minefield. Former Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance once said failing to support water rebates for salt-slagged Chesapeake residents helped to push out then-City Manager James W. Rein in 1995.

Even when the water doesn't flow with a salty taste, it can smell unpleasant. Hurricane Fran last year sent south winds and surging waters up the Currituck Sound. A series of events caused fish to die in the river after the storm, producing the water's pungent odor.

Other water supplies occasionally induce flavor problems for Chesapeake as well.

Already this month, water from the Norfolk Water System fell victim to algae blooms, altering drinking water's taste and color for citizens in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Chesapeake.

Has this history of foul water had a lasting effect on Chesapeake's marketability and self-image?

Not really, says the city's director of public affairs, Mark S. Cox.

``Its an ongoing effort to correct that false image,'' Cox said. ``We use every opportunity we can to explain where the water comes from, especially when a lot of people are drinking the same water in Norfolk.''

But an industry has grown up around Chesapeake's problems, ready to fill Chesapeake's water jugs when salt levels spike.

Joe Spendolini of Coast Water Systems, which sells residential and commercial water treatment systems, said even when some municipalities have turned to reverse-osmosis, there may be thousands of feet of water pipes coated with salt and other noxious elements from the old water.

``Who knows how long it will take to dissolve that stuff and carry it out?'' Spendolini said.

Jim Bebout, owner of the drinking water supply store H2O on Cedar Road, said he started his business four years ago after he was driving over eight miles to find savory water. Now he sells it for 37 cents a gallon.

``People here just don't like the water,'' Bebout said. ``It's always pretty bad; it just gets worse in the summer. The sodium, the chlorides, the foul rotten-egg smell from sulfur. People just don't trust the water, no matter what the city says.''

After an overflow of slaked customers forced him to close down for four hours each day in 1995 to generate more desalinated water, Bebout said his operation can now expand to six times its 1,000-gallon-a-day supply of two summers ago.

Spendolini, who is branch manager of Coast Water Systems of Wilmington, N.C., even has a pithy saying on seasonal water angst.

``The water is bad and getting worse, so business is good and getting better. Well, you know, that's shop talk for the summer.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

Drought and strong winds can cause a higher-than-normal level of

chloride, which can cause a salty taste, in the city's drinking

water.

Construction of the state's first reverse-osmosis water treatment

plant will be complete in late 1998. The city expects to draw water

from Lake Gaston Pipeline by 2000.

Contingency plans include drilling emergency access wells at five

city elementary and intermediate schools. The wells will be ready

next month. KEYWORDS: WATER CHESAPEAKE