Water Supply

Hot water is turning out to be a complicated issue. Everyone knows hot water is dangerous if it's too hot, but now there is a reason that it's a bad idea to keep it too cool. For years, plumbing codes required hot water to be maintained at 140 degrees or more, and even hotter to promote sanitation for commercial and sterilization applications. In the 1970s, the presumption that hotter was better lost favor because of the hazards presented by very hot water. Thousands of people were being severely burned every year by exposure to water so hot that it could scald in seconds.

Anne Arundel County residents will soon pay more for drinking water and for flushing toilets. The county is proposing to raise water and wastewater rates by about 5 percent when the new fiscal year begins July 1. Water rates will be increased from $2.68 per 1,000 gallons to $2.81 per 1,000 gallons. Wastewater rates will go up from $4.71 per 1,000 gallons to $4.94 per 1,000 gallons. A proposed 15 percent increase in Baltimore City's water rates is only a minor factor in the decision to raise Anne Arundel's rates, according to Matt Diehl, a spokesman for the county Department of Public Works.

The Sun's editorial "Go slow on shale drilling" (Feb. 14) points out very well the risks of mining for gas by using hydraulic fracturing. But one risk not mentioned and that needs to be emphasized is the fact that if the amount of water needed for high volume hydraulic fracturing is used, the fresh water supply for ourselves and our children will be endangered. High volume fracturing, which digs down to 10,000 feet to create fractures in shale through which natural gas can flow for collection, necessitates using millions of gallons of fresh water for each well; because it will be contaminated, this water will probably not be returned to the watershed.

Since the 1930s, warm weather and sunshine is a signal for many in Carroll and Baltimore counties to venture outdoors for biking, hiking fishing and boating trips in the Gunpowder River and Prettyboy watershed in the Hereford area. Spring has arrived just in time to help celebrate Prettyboy Reservoir Day this Saturday, April 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This year the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, the Prettyboy Watershed Alliance, Carroll and Baltimore County have joined forces for the one-day event as a part Earth Day celebrations and Baltimore Green Week.

Why does the water heater in my new house have another small tank hanging off the side of the pipe above it? That is an expansion tank installed on the water supply pipe to the water heater. Its purpose is to deal with thermal expansion of water as it heats up in the water heater - to prevent water pressure from getting too high. If water pressure gets high enough it can damage valves in plumbing fixtures, joints in supply pipes and even the water heater. Thermal expansion always occurs in water heaters.

Central Special School is expected to reopen today, with a water tank pumping fresh water into the Edgewater school for NTC severely disabled children.Contractors and school employees were to work through the night to set up the temporary water line with a tanker and pump, said spokeswoman Jane Doyle.The school has been closed for three days because the water supply for the five-school South River complex was found to be contaminated with solvents Oct. 3. Since Friday, bottled water has been in use at the other four schools while water lines were being flushed and water samples tested.

ACCORDING to Governor Smart Water and the Solons of Mount Airy, the drought of '99 is officially over. No longer will the mud-coated cars of Southwest Carroll be paraded as a sign of civic-minded conservation. No longer will South Carroll residents wonder whether they are entitled to water their posies on an odd-numbered day or an even-numbered day. The automatic car washes may resume business. As the French might say, "apres Floyd, le deluge." Others of us might say, oxymoronically, "Conservation is a terrible thing to waste."

The Westminster Common Council voted last night to pursue a $2.5 million state loan that would help the city tap an emergency water supply through a permanent underground pipeline. The city would use the money to build a 5.5-mile emergency water main connection that would connect a quarry outside Westminster to a State Highway Administration swale on Wyntridst Drive off Route 97. More than a million gallons of water would be available during emergencies. The water at Medford Quarry is free through an agreement between the city and LaFarge Corp.

The Cecil County Board of Commissioners wants to know more about the underground water supply serving the small community of Appleton before deciding whether to approve a planned 300-home golf course development. Officials are worried about whether there is enough water to serve the development proposed by Newark, Del.-based Aston Development Group Inc. and the scattering of homes in this rural section of the county. "Water seems to be the main concern," Commission President Nelson K. Bolender said at the end of a public hearing Tuesday night on the company's request for an amendment to the county's new master water and sewage plan that would allow the developer to use well water and the public sewage system for its project.

Central Special School will remain closed for a second consecutive day today because the water supply at the five-school South River complex in Edgewater has been contaminated by solvents.Meanwhile, county and school officials were to continue tests today and to flush the water system.What caused the contamination remained a mystery, and officials were looking for the source, said John A. Morris, public works spokesman.A teacher at one school noticed a kerosene-like odor from drinking fountain Thursday, prompting officials to shut off water to the complex, he said.

A chlorine leak at Montebello Filtration Plant No. 2 on Hillen Road in Baltimore Monday morning sent two workers to the hospital, according to a city public works spokesman. The leak occurred around 9:30 a.m. Monday and two workers who were exposed to the chemical were taken to local hospitals, public works spokesman Kurt Kocher said. He could not comment on their condition. Approximately 15-to-20 people working in the plant at the time were evacuated, he said. Baltimore City firefighters and HAZMAT workers capped the leak, which Kocher said appeared to be caused by a faulty cap on one of the plant's out-of-service filtration cylinders.

Kevin Rector ("Break in Light St. water main disrupts downtown," July 17) presents jarring evidence of the pressing need facing our public water systems. In the last 35 years, federal investment in our most essential public service has all but dried up, threatening the sustainability of our aging infrastructure. This leaves our systems vulnerable to abuse by the water industry. Over the last several decades, local and state officials and ratepayers have shouldered a growing portion of support for public water systems.

Most people throw out a jug of milk after a week or so. The oldest bottle of wine, on the other hand, is the most savored. But what about water? Some of what comes out of faucets in Annapolis, Leonardtown or Easton, it turns out, is older than the finest vintage — and the practice of dairy farming itself. Glaciers that melted more than two million years ago deposited layers of sediment around what is now the Chesapeake Bay. Underground rivers run between those layers, tapped by wells and recharged by rainfall over time.

Maryland is fortunate to have many beautiful parks, rivers and streams, breathtaking views, delicious fish and shellfish and enjoyable recreational opportunities, from our nation's largest estuary to the snow-capped mountains in Western Maryland. Throughout our history, we have not done enough to protect these treasures and the water that links them, allowing them to deteriorate and their ecosystems to suffer. Under Gov.Martin O'Malley's leadership, though, things have started to turn around.

The following letter was sent to local elected officials and a copy was provided for publication. Regarding the Columbia Gas Transmission Line, Referred to as the Line MB Loop, I am writing to you with safety, environmental and home value concerns relative to the above proposed line. Columbia Gas Transmission is either unwilling or has not authorized representatives to answer any of our hard questions. The issues as we see it are as follows: There is an existing eight-inch non pressurized line approximately 150 yards from our house.

The Harford County public and municipal elected officials in Aberdeen, Bel Air and Havre de Grace need to pay particularly close attention three bills on water and sewer issues that are scheduled for hearings before the Harford County Council this Tuesday, March 13, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Though the bills to some degree reflect a move in the general direction of a unified water system for the county, the question whether the county needs such...

County officials are negotiating with the state and the city of Baltimore to increase the water supply to the Freedom Area, Carroll's most populous region.To proceed with a $5 million expansion to the Freedom Water Treatment Plant, the county would need about 2 more acres along Liberty Reservoir. Once the addition is completed, the plant could process another 2 million gallons a day from the reservoir. The construction and increased allocation need approval from Baltimore, which owns the water and the surrounding property.

A group of residents said they learned a new version of frustration Thursday at a second public hearing on a builder's request for a state water-use permit.At the original hearing, a representative of Frall Developers Inc. kept mum when it came time to explain the request for the permit, needed for construction of a water-sewer system to serve a proposed 500-unit development on 516 acres just south of Mount Airy.That angered the curious residents and prompted a frustrated state administrator to halt the hearing and order the developer to returnfor second hearing with more information.

Artesian Water Maryland, a subsidiary of Artesian Resources Corporation, announced Wednesday it has completed the purchase of several Cecil County local water systems, including the water system of the Town of Port Deposit. Artesian purchased the water system and assets of the Town of Port Deposit, including access to the Susquehanna River as a water supply, the company said in a news release. On the eastern end of the county, Artesian built an interconnection between its Delaware water utility subsidiary and the Town of Elkton and invested in system upgrades to ensure up to 1.5 million gallons of water a day to Elkton and sufficient additional capacity to serve Cecil County's growth corridor as it develops, the company said.

Editor: An Oct. 14 Aegis editorial noted that justice was served when Aberdeen received $2.5 million from a class action suit in a groundwater contamination case. A gasoline leak contaminated Aberdeen's water supply well with benzene, which causes cancer, and the settlement was for costs the city incurred because of the leak. The editorial noted "Aberdeen has been fortunate insofar as the municipal drinking water supply ... could relatively easily be supplemented by the county's water system.