Salty wells will cost county

Tests show unhealthy levels of sodium and chloride near Hudson's wastewater plant.

By DAVID DECAMP
Published July 1, 2007

Jan and Barbara Burnside are taking the offer for a free water utility hookup. About 55 households may have tainted wells.
	[Times photo: Stephen J. Coddington]

ADVERTISEMENT Pasco County Commissioner Jack Mariano asked during a meeting if testing was a goodwill project.

HUDSON - About five months ago, a crew came to Marilyn Hutchinson's 10-acre homestead. They wanted to test the water.

For what? She did not fully learn until a public meeting Thursday night.

That's when Pasco officials revealed the latest breakdown of the county's troubled sewage system -- one that will cost utility customers an unexpected $300,000 to fix.

Tests found high levels of sodium and chloride have seeped into the water table near the county's wastewater treatment plant in Hudson. As many as 55 homeowners' wells could be affected.

Together, sodium and chloride form table salt -- hardly a noxious substance, county health officials say. But excessive levels have been linked to health problems such as high blood pressure, according to various health agencies.

"It's just like too much salt in your diet," said Deanna Krautner, spokeswoman for the Pasco County Health Department.

The problem is serious enough that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is requiring the county to offer central water service to those 55 homeowners. The county's utility customers would shoulder the $300,000 cost.

"Pasco County should proceed as quickly as possible in providing drinking water to residents," according to an April report from a state groundwater official.

That level of urgency wasn't conveyed to the homeowners who gathered Thursday night.

"Your water's probably fine," Bruce Kennedy, assistant county administrator for utilities, told the group. "Out of an abundance of caution, I guess, we're being proactive."

Residents pushed for more clarity. What were the test scores? They were on the maps handed out. How did this come about? An order from the state.

County Commissioner Jack Mariano suggested by question another reason:

"Is this a goodwill project?" Mariano nudged.

Not quite.

- - -

The sodium and chloride likely washed in from the Gulf of Mexico, then seeped into the aging sewer lines along Pasco's coast.

The salty sewage was then piped to the Hudson wastewater treatment plant located in a rural pocket near Houston Avenue east of U.S. 19. The sewage was treated for all kinds of contaminants -- but not for sodium or chloride.

Still laced with those elements, the treated wastewater went into holding ponds where it percolated back into the ground. The sodium and chloride trickled down, too, appearing in the water supply at levels exceeding Florida's standards, according to test results provided by the county.

Of 24 wells and soil borings tested from April 2006 to January 2007, eight exceeded the state's chloride limits, including one by 90 percent. Ten tests exceeded sodium standards, including one by 92.5 percent.

The tests were done within a 1-mile radius of the Hudson treatment plant. The highest levels were found closest to the treatment plant and the ponds, although one residential well exceeded standards for both elements.

A test near Hutchinson's home revealed high contamination levels. She sees no alternative but to connect to county water and start paying a monthly bill for something she used to draw from her own well.

"I don't have a choice," Hutchinson said. "What am I going to do? I'm going to have to pay."

By linking to county water, customers will pay an average bill of $20 to $25 each month. The connection is not mandatory, although the county's offer to pay the connection fee is for a limited time. If residents wait, they could pay $1,800 or more to tie into county water months from now.

Hutchinson said it's unfair that she must pay for water service she now needs because of contamination caused by someone else -- a point echoed by neighbors in Gopher Hills and Indian Oaks.

"We shouldn't have to pay for it," said Barb Burnside, whose husband Jan noted he started taking medicine for high blood pressure last year.

A recent test also showed bacteria in her well, they said, giving them "no choice but to do it."

- - -

The testing around the Hudson plant stemmed from a state order dealing with a slew of Pasco utility problems.

The state fined Pasco $359,000 last fall for a litany of violations, including expanding a wastewater plant without a permit; improperly discharging treated wastewater; and using a secret pipe to send stormwater and partially treated wastewater to a tributary of a major drinking water source, the Hillsborough River.

That figure was negotiated down from a threatened $1.8-million fine, which the state reduced because the county agreed to do $2.7-million in utility improvements.

The water connections for these 55 Hudson households were not included in that figure. Kennedy said he had been "optimistic this probably wasn't as bad and we wouldn't have to do it."

But the state order required Pasco to test the drinking water near the Hudson plant for sodium and chloride anyway. When the results neared or exceeded state limits, the county agreed to offer the neighbors free hookups to county water lines.

The state has not filed paperwork directly saying the county caused the problem, but the county has filed reports accepting responsibility to do the hookups, according to DEP documents and agency spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez.

However, Kennedy told residents the county could have challenged the demand to provide central water by arguing Pasco did not cause the pollution.

That's because the sodium and chloride originated in coastal sewer lines, such as at Leisure Beach, Kennedy said. The salt may have also come from businesses and private utilities. According to a June 15 letter, the state has asked Lindrick Service Corp. and Hudson Utilities to explain any role they might have had.

Pasco no longer sends the coastal sewage to the Hudson plant. In five or six years, he added, the county intends to shut it down and send the sewage to an expanded plant in Shady Hills.

"Even if we don't do anything," Kennedy said of the sodium and chloride, "it will dissipate naturally."

David DeCamp can be reached at 727 869-6232 or ddecamp@sptimes.com.

Water testing in Hudson

Tests within a 1-mile radius of the Hudson Wastewater Treatment Plant showed excessive levels of sodium and chloride contaminating the drinking water in some locations.

The water is considered contaminated if it contains more than 250 milligrams of chloride or more than 160 milligrams of sodium per liter, according to an order by Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

[Last modified June 30, 2007, 20:50:56]