THE NEWSCASTER-Nature Coast News
PAGE 8 - February 17, 2010
ANewscaster Photojournalist Mike Moore
Toast! To No Halomethanes!
By
As Inglis decides the fate of its town charter, a recurring theme pops up among
the many public discussions; the arguments often come down to money and how it is
spent taking care of its constituents. One of the many expensive commodities the town
must provide the public is clean, safe water.
In order to do a proper job of filtering and cleaning the water the town drinks and
uses in so many ways, a rather sophisticated series of industrial sized machines sits right
outside of town and quietly do their job 24/7. Machines with fancy names like “green
sand iron removing apparatus” and “reverse osmosis membrane array” condition water
drawn from the town s 240ft. wells before pumping it up to the blue Inglis water tower
that stands hidden by clusters of pine tracts just north and east of the town.
According to Public Works Director Tom Brennen and Plant Operator Lonnie
Parnell, the relatively new equipment is a must due to the town’s proximity to the Gulf of
Mexico. The older “lime” style plant has been replaced with state of the art water treat-
ment due to the naturally high levels of organics in the aquifer that react with the state
law mandatory chlorine treatment. If not removed prior to chlorination, the organics will
produce ‘trihalomethane (THM) which is an EPA contaminant. The basic 1989 water
plant was upgraded with the reverse osmosis (RO) system in 2003 and with the green
Inglis municipal water plant operator Lonnie Parnell looking over the array of reverse
sand (GS) system in 2009. Looking at the tangle of tubes and controls, Lonnie shows me
osmosis cartridges that produce the town’s public water. The fate of this and other town
how to clean the membranes by hand. “Every last one of them is soaked in this tank and
owned and operated services could hang in the balance as Inglis decides whether to dis-
then put back’ he says, ‘by me”.
solve its town charter. Photo by Mike Moore
Complying with EPA municipal water standards isn t easy or inexpensive. On
the EPA s Clean Water Act website s opening page alone (http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/
NAPA Auto &
regs.html#current) there are 37 bullets that dive into the myriad of regulations that must
be followed in order to comply with municipal water standards. Underneath the first bul-
Truck Parts
let is the explanation for 65 different contaminants that must be eliminated from drinking
water. However complicated, thankfully the Inglis water plant is equipped to meet those
Fax: 352-447-6099
regulations.
(352) 447-6000
The citizens of Inglis are not the only ones faced with ever increasing water
Hours:
treatment complexities and costs. In 2007, a survey of 14 countries indicated that average
Mon-
municipal water prices ranged from 66¢ per cubic meter in the U.S. to more than $2.25 in
U.S. 19 - Inglis
Friday
Central Europe for the same amount. Furthermore, in the ten year period prior to the 2007
Hydraulic Hoses Our Specialty
survey, municipal water rates increased by an average of 27 percent in the United States,
7:30-5:30
32 percent in the United Kingdom, 45 percent in Australia, 50 percent in South Africa,
Hydraulic Hoses up to 2"- 6 Wire
Saturday
and 58 percent in Canada.
8-5
(352) 489-3391
Despite the ever increasing pricing for potable water, Inglis still delivers it at
about $2.00 per one thousand gallons after the first thousand. Compare that to Citrus
Sunday
County public works water rates for Gospel Island as an example at $4.58 per thousand
U.S. 41 - Dunnellon
8-5
gallons after the first thousand. Even with state of the art equipment, Inglis delivers EPA
Just North of Powell Rd
standard water for half of the Citrus County rate - pumping out of virtually the same aqui-
fer!
Granted, there may be other areas of this state or country that have better water.
Some would argue bottled water is better the Inglis tap water. And so it may be. However,
by and large, the Public Works Department are doing what they are being paid to do, what
they are mandated by law to do, and they do it by all due appearances at an economical
rate. Something we can all drink to!
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