The village of Dolgeville is continuing in its battle against elevated levels of haloacetic acids in its drinking water.
At Monday night’s meeting of the board of trustees, water plant operator Neal Winkler said that a recent sample taken by consultants working with the village to determine the cause of the elevated levels showed that the village’s water system is collecting organics in its feeder stream.
“We are going to begin to look at measures we can take to limit the amount of organics that get in the water,” said Winkler.
Fall foliage and the autumn leaf drop have been previously linked to the spike in the level of carcinogens in the village water supply.
“The sample taken at the top of the stream showed that there was one milliliter of organics per liter of water, while the sample taken at the water plant showed that there was 4.1 milliliters of organics per liter of water,” said Winkler. “Those results tell us that the organics are being picked up in the feeder stream, and that any improvements that we make along the stream may help us with our sample results.”
Winkler said trees have fallen in the feeder stream, and as a result, the water has had to reroute itself. “The trees in the stream could be a factor, as well as the trees on the streambed that shed their leaves in fall,” he said. “These are all areas that we will begin to take a look at.”
The stream is fed by natural springs spread out of acres, some of which the village does not has control over.
“There are parts of our watershed that we have no control over,” said Winkler. “For instance, the beaver dams at the top of the stream are on state land. We can only look to make changes along the parts that we own, and hopefully that will be enough to improve our results.”
The Environmental Protection Agency, according to Winkler, believes that the acids are forming as a result of the chlorine coming into contact with the organic material. He said length of time could be an issue, as the longer the interaction time, the higher level of acids produced.
“We are continuing to put together a system to that will eliminate this issue,” said Winkler. “We hope to find the best route to take.”
The trend of higher contamination levels began when the state Department of Health changed its standards for sampling earlier this decade. Those standards include quarterly testing in February, May, August and November, and tests for haloacetic acids.
Haloacetic acids are a chlorinated water disinfectant byproduct formed when chlorine reacts with natural organic matter or bromide ions in raw water supplies. Long-term exposure to the acids, according to the EPA, pose a threat for an increased risk of cancer.
They are classified by the EPA as a Group 2B cancer classification (possibly carcinogenic to humans) because there is evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals, but there is either no evidence or not sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans. Effects include an increased risk for cancer and effects on the liver, kidney, nervous system and ability to bear healthy children, according to the EPA.
Haloacetic acids are embryotoxic contaminants commonly found in drinking water, and in aquatic ecosystems throughout the world as a result of anthropogenic (derived from humans) and natural production. They are formed when a halogen atom takes the place of a hydrogen atom in acetic acid. The regulated haloacetic acids, known as HAA5, are monochloroacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, trichloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid. The amount of haloacetic acids in the water supply varies from day to day depending on temperature.
Dolgeville, N.Y. —
