Drinking Water Quality Page

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"A public forum for communication about the drinking water in our east Madison community, organized by the East Isthmus Neighborhoods Planning Council’s Drinking Water Work Group. The group works together to communicate, strategize, and determine actions and recommendations to the larger east Madison coalition of neighborhoods."

East Isthmus Drinking Water Series: Water Conservation

East Isthmus Well Replacement: a project update July 2007

East Isthmus Drinking Water Series: Water Conservation

Join us this Thursday, July 19, 2007 for a:
Discussion about water conservation and the future of Madison's drinking water supply.

Earlier this evening, Madison Water Utility announced that it is proposing to permanently abandon Well 3 this summer. The well has been shut down since September 2006 due to the presence of carbon tetrachloride in the water. Utility staff will present the Black & Veatch report and its recommendations to the Madison Board of Water Commissioners on May 15. The Utility will recommend to the Board that it proceed with the process of abandoning the well immediately.

Black & Veatch evaluated the Utility's ability to meet water demand, even under emergency conditions, with Well 3 out of service. The study examined current water supply projections and capacity as well as for the years 2010 and 2015. Principal Engineer Al Larson briefly discussed the results at the East Isthmus Drinking Water Series public meeting this evening. A copy of the press release (PDF, 142KB) is attached.

Well 3 used to supply drinking water to much of the east isthmus.  Well 3 is shut down due to elevated carbon tetrachloride readings in 2006.  The city is now starting the process of locating a new well to serve the east isthmus. 

Want to make sure your future tap water is safe to drink?  Want to make sure the city follows the best available science in the locating of this new well?

We're having an east side neighborhood meeting about all this next Thursday. This is your chance to ask questions and get a better understanding what we know - and what we don't know - about the hydrogeology of the east isthmus.
   

East Isthmus Drinking Water Meeting

Thursday April 19   6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Bashford United Methodist Church
329 North Street [Enter at back]

This second meeting in the Drinking Water Series will focus on:

* The aquifer underlying the east isthmus
* Landfills as potential sources of contaminants
* Siting a replacement well for Well 3
* How future development may effect water supply
        
East side neighborhood associations - Emerson East, Hawthorne, Marquette, and Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara - and the City of Madison are co-sponsoring this series of drinking water meetings. 

Updates on this and future Drinking Water Series meetings can be found at http://www.cityofmadison.com/water/publicMeetings.cfm

Questions?  Call Joseph Grande, Madison Water Utility, 266-4654; or Dan Melton, Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara Neighborhood Association, 249-9632

What We’ve Heard So Far About:
Drinking Water Quality – Well #3

Important Relevant Facts/Background

Background -  Iron and manganese are naturally occurring elements in ground water.  However, there can be unsafe levels and the city is responsible for remediation.  The city's attempt to deal with the iron and manganese was successful but it resulted in unsafe levels of tetrachloride.  The tetrachloride is a carcinogen that has seeped into the groundwater supply in well 3.  The original contamination may have occurred as long as 20 years ago.  The likely source of contamination is a site across from the well where a paint manufacturing plant was operating in the past.  The well is currently shut down, but the city may need a well in this area in the future.

Those interested in the EPA fact sheet about carbon tetrachloride should go to the following link:  http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/dw_contamfs/carbonte.html

How to deal with this?

Option One- Add treatment/filter to existing well

The least likely option because it is nearly as expensive as building a new well.  Furthermore, the existing well is 80 years old and investing in improving it doesn't make sense.  Additional reservoir capacity is needed and there is insufficient space at the existing site for the filtration process.

Option Two- Abandon well without replacing it

Other wells can and have been servicing the Emerson East Area.  However, this may be problematic during high demand times and emergencies.  Water shortages are foreseeable.  If development continues, there may be increasing demands on the system and the severity of the water shortages will probably intensify.  Another requirement of the Water Utility is that they meet redundancy issues.  There must be adequate overlap of services in case of system failure.  It is not clear weather this option addresses the need for a back-up source of water.  This is an area of further study.

Option Three- Replace well three at a new location

The most likely scenario.  However, it is very expensive ($3-$5 million) and site location is a real challenge.  The site location is constrained by distance requirements from landfills, gas stations, dry cleaners, and industrial activity.  In addition, the site must be large enough to accommodate the construction site during the build out phase and the site itself after the build. The site will probably be about an acre after the build but will require a larger construction easement while the well is being installed. 

Timeline (if applicable)

10.3.06 Emerson East Annual meeting (most of the contents of this sheet come from that meeting)

The conservative time line on the well replacement process is as follows:

• 1 year to site the well
• 1 year to test the site
• 1 year to install a production well and test
• 1 year to design the facility
• 1 year to build the facility

During this time there may be water shortages on a short-term basis

Concerns Raised

The technology for building wells now vs. when the well was built over 80 years ago is significant.  This new way of building the wells provides protection from surface contamination.

Questions from Neighborhoods

What’s Missing? Who’s Missing?

Contact People

Satya Rhodes-Conway, Eken Park Neighborhood Association, satyarhodesconway@gmail.com, 242-4426

Dave Danig-Chakroff,  Madison Water Utility, and Joseph Grande, City of Madison,

Questions for Consideration

• What factors influence peoples’ abilities to take action on neighborhood issues?
• Who is impacted by water quality?
• Is the impact experienced equally? (eg. By people from different ethnicity, class, and gender backgrounds.)
  • If yes, describe?
  • If no, how is it experienced by different stakeholders and groups?
• Is coalition building around well #3 inclusive of all stakeholders?
  • If yes, what is the best practice around promoting inclusivity?
  • If no, what are ways to improve stakeholder representation?

Next Steps

UPCOMING MEETING

What: Drinking Water Quality, Public Health and Well #3 - A Neighborhood Meeting

 Why: To bring neighborhoods affected together and to make sure our concerns about contamination in our water are heard by city hall

When: Monday, Nov. 27th, 6-8 pm

Where: location to be announced

Who: YOU, your neighbors, neighborhood leaders, and representatives from the mayor's office, the water utility and the health department. Please spread the word!

~childcare will be available~

To help work on this issue, please contact Satya Rhodes-Conway at 242-4426 or EINPC at 204-0834.