Clearing things up: Clearitas treatments to water will start Monday in Charlestown

Clark County

SO YOU KNOW:

The Charlestown Utilities Department will be performing a flush of the city’s water lines from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
The water company does not foresee occurrences of discoloration during the flush, but it is recommended that customers refrain from doing laundry during the posted times, according to the city’s website. If water discoloration does occur, the company recommends running cold water until it clears.
Residents can report discolored water online at www.cityofcharlestown.com and by clicking on the Project Clean Lines link, or by calling 812-256-7130. The city asks residents provide their name, address, date and time of the problem.
Charlestown officials also said the city will adjust water bills if excessive flushing is required, but added that a call and a report of the occurrence must be made in order to be reimbursed.
Charlestown has planned a follow-up meeting for its water treatment project at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 27.

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January 31, 2012

By BRADEN LAMMERS Braden.Lammers@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Tue Jan 31, 2012, 04:13 AM EST

CHARLESTOWN — The city of Charlestown will begin treating its water system that has pumped out discolored water to residents for decades.

Charlestown Mayor Bob Hall hosted a meeting Monday night to tell residents what to expect when the chemical Clearitas is introduced into the city’s water system next week.

Clearitas is a chemical designed to break down a build up of manganese in the water lines, which causes the discoloration in the drinking water and that residents said has stained bathtubs, faucets and that has ruined clothes in their washing machines.

“I can’t think of a single person in this room that is wanting to drink the water that looks the way it does sometimes,” said Marilyn Greenwell, who owns a home in Charlestown.

John Byrum, national director of municipal sales for Blue Earth Labs, said the product “slowly chews away at the organic glue, holding the inorganic contaminants — in this case iron and manganese — to the sides of the pipe and it slowly allows it to leave the same way it got there.”

And in the first few weeks of treatment he said there will be incidents of discolored water, but the city is hoping to control how many with extra flushing of the system that is planned.

The solution to the water issue has been a contentious one in the city and is modeled off of a solution Patriot, Ind., implemented, which has used an earlier version of the Clearitas product for four years.

A video presentation with Patriot’s Wastewater Superintendent Sherry Ogden said Clearitas produced an “almost immediate” change in the town’s water, the water company received substantially fewer calls about dirty water and that construction of a filtration plant to clean up the problem was not necessary.

Calls to construct a filtration plant have been made by a number of Charlestown residents and was among the most contentious issues in November’s Charlestown elections.

Byrum said a filtration plant would have not resolved the issue of the build up in the city’s water lines and is a cheaper alternative to constructing a new plant.

The other alternative offered to remove the manganese build up from the city’s water lines was to replace the lines.

“To fix all of our water lines ... to replace that, you would be talking about $200-$300 million,” Hall said. “We couldn’t even get bonding for that amount of money. There will be no water rate increases on this,” he said referring to the use of Clearitas.

Hall added that the city’s cost in the first year of use for the chemical totals about $75,000.

In addition, he admitted while the chemical will treat the water, it will not remove the manganese from the city’s drinking water.

“We’re not eliminating manganese from the water,” Hall said.

But Hall and Byrum assured the crowd of more than 100 people the water will be safe to drink. They noted manganese is a mineral routinely found in food, drinks and water.

Byrum added that there is no risk of health problems associated with adding Clearitas to the city’s water.

He said the amount of the chemical that will be used initially — and lowered over time — totals 20 parts per million. The National Sanitation Foundation allows up to 4,000 parts per million of Clearitas to be added to the water system.

Jarring loose the build up of 40-years worth of manganese concerned at least one Charlestown resident.

Highview Lakeview subdivision resident Loren Christman said, “We have black water. We have problems when we don’t have black water. You draw a glass full of water out and let it sit for a few days, the manganese settles to the bottom. It’s dark, brown and black, and also that water smells terrible. I’m still going to have that problem when this Clearitas operation is complete as I see. You’re just sequestering [the manganese] and sending it all through, so I don’t see we’re solving a problem on my end. We’re still going to have the manganese after this is done. The final result still ends up at my house.”

Justin Harris, engineer with Saegesser Engineering Inc. who is working for the city on the project, offered that the problem will clear up and no additional amount of manganese will be sent to the outer ends of the water system, like the Highview Lakeview subdivision.

“The build up that’s in the lines, once we get that line clean, you’re not going to see any difference in the water quality as far as the concentration of manganese,” he said.

Byrum wouldn’t offer an expected timeline for how long the city would need to use the chemical, but added that he doesn’t recommend stopping the use of Clearitas, instead limiting its use to a maintenance dose year round.

Hall, however, based on Patriot’s use compared to Charlestown, said he expects the treatment with Clearitas to last between 18 months to two years.