Sunday, January 20, 2002
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Sunday, January 20, 2002 |
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Officials trying to sniff out source of water odor By DAVE HAMRICK
Water officials should find out Tuesday why the water in south Peachtree City has recently had a sweet smell that some users have likened to maple syrup, others to antifreeze. One resident, Patty Culjak, complained that officials at the Fayette County Water System and in the county government have showed a lack of concern about what she considers a potentially serious problem, but Water System Director Tony Parrott said the system is doing all it can to find out the source of the odor and correct it. "I have no idea at this point how my baby's been affected by it," Culjak said Thursday. Culjak, who is expecting, said she first noticed the odor about ten days ago but "didn't pay too much mind at first. I thought it was me." But as time went on and the smell persisted, she decided to phone the water system. Apparently others went through the same thought process, because the system was deluged with about 50 phone calls this past Monday, all from the south Fayette area, mostly Peachtree City, said Parrott. Culjak said when she described the odor to her husband, who is in Seattle on homeland defense business, "his immediate thought was glycol." The chemical is used in deicing airplanes, and the Culjaks developed the theory that runoff from deicing operations at Hartsfield Airport during the recent snowstorm found its way into the Flint River, which supplies much of Fayette's drinking water. Culjak said water system officials rebuffed her efforts to get them to test the water to find out what the problem was, prompting her husband to file a complaint Tuesday with the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Parrott admitted he doesn't agree with the glycol theory, but said the system responded quickly to get the water tested after receiving the complaints. Since Clayton County gets a larger proportion of its drinking water from the Flint than Fayette does, and its intake is closer to the airport than Fayette's, Parrott said he would have thought if the problem were glycol from the airport, Clayton would have more complaints. But that system has had only one complaint, he said. Also, he said, a chemical like glycol would float on top of the water and be visibly apparent in the system's raw-water holding pond, but that's not the case. The problem could well be caused by the chlorine in the water combining with trace elements, Parrott suggested, adding that the best way to deal with those problems is to flush fire hydrants, something the system has done in this case. There are numerous possible reasons for the odor, he added. "I wish I knew the answer," he said. But he phoned the state Environmental Protection Division, he said, and asked the agency to test Fayette's water for bacterial contamination as well as chemical, specifically glycol. The water system is not equipped to run such tests locally, he added. A state EPD official contacted by The Citizen confirmed that the agency became involved at the water system's request, not as a result of the complaint filed with the federal EPA. Results of the state tests won't be available until Tuesday. Meanwhile, at EPD's suggestion, Fayette has been feeding carbon into the system to remove any chemical contaminants that may be in the water, and the South Fayette Treatment Plant, which takes water from the Flint River, has been shut down. Culjak said she is frustrated that EPD and the water system aren't issuing a county-wide warning not to drink the water. She said her children's excrement has started to exhibit strange colors, and Rick Fehr, county environmental health director, warned her not to use the water until the problem has been resolved. But Jim Banks of EPD's Drinking Water Program said, "The water, I think, is safe." But he said anyone who is concerned has to make a personal decision about whether to drink it.
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