County downplays risks of foul sprinkler water

A Health Department spokeswoman says potential for illness exists, but "You wouldn't think people would be drinking it.''

By JAMES THORNER and CARY DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 27, 2000

WESLEY CHAPEL -- The stench grabbed Tricia James as she opened the front door of her new home in the Lakes at Northwood.

[Times photo: Carrie Pratt] Oscar Wildman of River Gate Run in Meadow Pointe cleans out the sprinkler heads at his home Wednesday. Contaminated water jammed the neighborhood's sprinkler systems.

Pasco County officials assured her the source of the smell, fecal-contaminated water jamming the neighborhood sprinkler system, posed no health threat.

Still, James kept her three children in the house until her husband safely shut off the irrigation system.

"Who knows what was in that water?" she said.

Pasco officials have tried to make amends for the clogged and damaged sprinklers, offering to reimburse the full cost of flushing and repairing lawn irrigation systems in as many as 10 central Pasco neighborhoods.

But what of the threats posed by intestinal coliform bacteria that in at least one test exceeded by several times official safe limits?

As with any other intestinal bacteria, the waste that could have contaminated people's lawns, if transferred to a person's mouth, could make one sick, said Becky Thomas, spokeswoman for the Pasco County Health Department.

Possible illnesses range from minor vomiting, diarrhea and eye and ear infections to potentially serious hepatitis, a viral disease.

But Thomas said the health department declined to play an active role in the recent troubles, relying on utility workers to conduct bacteria tests.

"I don't mean to downplay people's concerns," Thomas said. "But my understanding was this wasn't potable water anyway. You wouldn't think people would be drinking it."

Nevertheless, neighbors have questioned the utility department's decision not to inform homeowners immediately after officials learned on April 19 about dangerous contamination in sprinklers in the Lakes at Northwood. Although the situation has been reported on television and in newspapers, the county won't send its official notification until Friday when it mails utility bills.

Doug Bramlett, who runs the county's utilities branch, defended his actions by saying he immediately ordered the reclaimed water turned off and the pipes flushed with massive doses of chlorine.

"We had a network of people we informed in the subdivisions. We did this press release for the newspapers," Bramlett said.

Bramlett added: "At that point, I didn't think there was a serious health problem. I still don't think there was a serious problem."

But for Meadow Pointe resident Heather Parry, the county flubbed its primary responsibility: keeping neighbors informed about the risk to their families.

"There's no excuse when you have something like that going into people's yards, especially when you have small children running over the grass," Parry said. "They could have put up signs at the entrances of the affected neighborhoods."

Bramlett's crews have completed pipe flushing in all of the potentially affected neighborhoods: Brookside, Saddlebrook, Quail Hollow, Lexington Oaks, Grand Oaks, Oak Grove, Stagecoach Village and Sable Ridge.

Flushing in the three worst-hit neighborhoods -- Meadow Pointe, Northwood and the Lakes at Northwood -- ended Wednesday.

As for the cause of the troubles, officials blame a private road contractor hired to build State Road 56 in Wesley Chapel.

Someone released a valve that sent the sprinkler system's normally clean reclaimed water pouring through a dormant pipe containing 25,000 gallons of stagnant wastewater.

By April 12, the utilities department began getting complaints about sulfurous odors and material jamming sprinklers.

Northwood and Meadow Pointe took the brunt of the contamination. The neighborhood farthest removed from the pipe, Sable Ridge in Land O'Lakes, had no complaints of clogged sprinklers.

Glen Delaney, a 72-year-old retiree in Meadow Pointe, spent time last week cleaning all 20 of his lawn sprinkler heads.

On Wednesday, many sprinklers in the neighborhood squirted clean water without obstruction. Many lawns bore the brown patches of plants deprived of water for the past 10 days.

"There was hair, toilet paper, everything you could imagine," Delaney said. "It was really pollution."

Bramlett acknowledges some fecal matter may have jammed the sprinklers, but he doubts toilet paper could have survived through the years in the pipe without decomposing.

"I think there could have been some solid bio-film that looks a lot like toilet paper," Bramlett said. "This was not raw sewage that got into the pipes."

As for the cleanup, county commissioners on Tuesday approved reimbursing property owners for cleanup and repairs stemming from the mix-up. On Friday, notices to that effect will go out with the monthly water bills to about 2,700 property owners.

Bramlett estimates about 300 to 400 customers will charge the county for repairs costing no more than $80,000.

"Hopefully, the people will be honest, but I know some people won't be," he said. "We were going to put limits on the amount they'd charge us, but we didn't."

What to do

Here is how to report problems related to the damaged sprinklers and receive reimbursement:

Types of damage covered:

Pasco County will reimburse homeowners and business owners for the cost of repairing damaged sprinklers and valves, cleaning stained carpets and any other sprinkler-related damage on a case-by-case basis.

Method of reimbursement:

The county will credit each property owner's monthly water and sewer bill until the expense is reimbursed.

How to report damage:

Send a copy of your receipt to Pasco County Utilities, P.O. Box 2139, New Port Richey, FL 34656-2139. If you have questions, call (813) 996-7341 or (800) 226-8144 and asked for ext. 8131, 8041 or 8145.

Other problems:

If a person feels the wastewater has made him or her ill, the county will handle each illness complaint on case-by-case basis, provided a person has a note from a physician.

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