Water Problems

BEFORE HE WAS asasssinated by Islamic militants in 1981 for making peace with Israel, Egypt's President Anwar el Sadat predicted that the next Middle East war would be over water.Fifteen years later, peace may again be in the offing, but water problems still loom large. The election of hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel has further decreased the potential for agreement on water issues. For historical, strategic and personal reasons, Netanyahu does not trust his Arab counterparts enough to give them more control over Israel's water.

Many homeowners in Maple Crest, a 30-year-old subdivision just south of Westminster, have struggled for years with water problems. Some wells run low part of the year. Some wells go dry during periods of drought. Others have dried up altogether, forcing residents to truck in water.County officials say the solution is easy -- extend Westminster's public water lines to the neighborhood's 60 homes. The solution has one catch: cost.The $300,000 project would be shared by residents, costing each about $5,000, plus $3,700 in connection and service fees.

The Howard County government is still racking up costs from the effects of last week's ice storm, officials say.The ice remains so thick on some streets that the Bureau of Highways is continuing to plow and sand each night, adding to the cost of overtime and materials.From Jan. 17 through Tuesday, the Bureau of Highways spread 2,225 tons of salt and 3,175 tons of cinders on county roadways, and put 11,116 gallons of fuel into 50 county vehicles.During that period, employees racked up 2,332 hours of overtime.

Two Baltimore County public schools were forced to school close this morning due to water main breaks, officials said. Carver Center for Arts and Technology at 938 York Road in Towson closed at 9 a.m. The water problems were caused by a 10-inch water main break at Fairmont Avenue and York Road near the school. Crews were working to fix the problem, which has also affected 30-40 area businesses, according to Kurt Kocher, a spokesman for Baltimore City's Department of Public Works. A water main break in the 400 block of Academy Road also closed down Westowne Elementary at 401 Harlem Lane in Baltimore at 10 this morning.

The Carroll commissioners are seeking bids to extend Westminster water lines to Maple Crest, a 30-year-old subdivision south of the county seat that has struggled with water problems for years. The neighborhood has no public water and residents rely on private wells. Some wells run low part of the year and others go dry during periods of drought. More than a few have dried up, forcing residents to bear the costly burden of trucking in water. The county is seeking bids that would show the costs of extending water lines under two scenarios.

About 35 homeowners in Maple Crest, a 30-year-old subdivision south of Westminster, met with County Commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier last night to discuss extending city water lines to their neighborhood. The area has no public water, and residents rely on private wells. Some wells run low part of the year and others go dry during periods of drought. More than a few have dried up, forcing residents to bear the costly burden of trucking in water. "I've got a water-conditioning system that requires a lot of maintenance and costs me quite a bit of money.

Dear Mr. Azrael: My husband and I bought a house in mid-February. The house is in a new development where more homes are being built. Our house is about 1 1/2 years old, and we bought it from the original owners, who had it built. The back yard slopes down toward the house, and every time it rains, the back yard floods and retains water for well over 24 hours. Several weeks ago, when we had a big rain here in Maryland, there was also a small amount of water in our basement, coming in through the concrete walls and below the basement door, damaging many of the boxes of "stuff" we haven't had a chance to unpack.

It may be hard to think of winter as a season of water, but you can be in real trouble if you don't.Indoor water and outdoor water both are problems. Winter rain and melting snow have to go somewhere -- away from the house -- and quickly. If there are problems with the gutters -- say you put off clearing out the leaves -- you could get trapped water turning to ice and pushing up underneath the roof surface. When the weather warms up, the ice melts and could drip inside.Water that gets trapped around the foundation -- because the soil isn't graded so water runs away, or because there are depressions from summer plantings, or because leaves have built up -- can find a way through the ground into the basement.

No doubt about it, indoor plumbing is the greatest convenience in shelter since the discovery of the door. But it's also the source of a huge number of homeowner headaches. We've gotten a series of questions recently about water problems such as burbling pipes and dripping walls. A reader in Severna Park offers another water puzzle."Our problem is the moaning noise [not hammer noise] we hear when we turn on the water. It's difficult to determine where the noise originates since the sound travels along the water routes and finally to the water heater . . . We've had the county water utility people examine it and they felt the cause might be due to high water pressure, and after some cajoling they installed a water-pressure reduction valve in the water main.

EVEN AS THE world swings to the tune of oil, shortages of an even more essential liquid - drinking water - loom as one of this century's major worldwide problems. For now, the world water crisis is largely concentrated in developing nations. But from North China, where the water table is dropping about five feet a year, to Baltimore, where reservoirs last fall hit a historic low, the prospect of running short of water is becoming less and less theoretical. "The 21st century is one in which the overriding problem is one of water quality and management," says a new U.N. report, the most comprehensive look at world water to date.