To the Editor:
Last week’s article, All’s Well at Oak Bluffs Lagoon Pond Well, leaves me wondering how things really are at the water district. The information that was given in the report was flawed or at any rate misleading. This may have been a combination of the sources used in the article or The Times reporter’s interpretation of the information.
Just to set the record straight for those who care about their water quality, the Lagoon Pond Well is not spring fed. The original well channeled the Weahtaqua Spring water through a surface channel into an underground pipe into the clear well, which is still observable in the station. At times you can see trout swimming in the clear well. The well is primarily a groundwater source, under the influence of the Island’s aquifer at its most highly pressurized exit into the Lagoon Pond. This is evident by the water freely flowing out of the hillside at times.
The other dubious information in the article was the statement by commissioner Kevin Johnson, “Moving forward, we’ll be more cognizant of weather conditions, and the well will be tested twice a day,” he said. True, the weather conditions will influence a shallow groundwater well, and during heavy rains this well should be shut down. However, testing the well twice a day for coliform bacteria is basically useless. Test results at best need 24 hours to determine a positive or negative outcome using the fermentation method. Therefore any number of tests exceeding one does little to determine early detection. This statement only promotes false reassurance regarding water quality to ratepayers. If once is good, twice must be better. This type of promotional information is purely political and erodes the trust of the rate paying public.
My humble advice to the ratepayers in Oak Bluffs is to be vigilant, be informed, ask questions, attend meetings, and do the research. Our water quality should be in the hands of certified water operators, knowledgeable in the means and methods to deliver potable water to the citizens of Oak Bluffs.
In conclusion, the Lagoon Pond Well will need to be chlorinated on a permanent basis. In order to satisfy the Department of Environmental Protection’s groundwater rule, Oak Bluffs will need to produce four-log removal to assure chlorination has been successfully implemented.
Deacon Perrotta
Oak Bluffs
Deacon Perrotta is a former water superintendent of both Oak Bluffs and Tisbury.