RSA shuts down Lydia Water System

Several local households recently have been informed that the Rapidan Service Authority (RSA) will no longer supply water to them, due to the possibility of contamination. 
Following its decision to shut down its Lydia Water System, RSA has issued a check for $7,000 to each of the 17 users, in order for these households to drill wells.
But some users are saying that might not be enough. Besides that, a number of these folks might not be able to drill wells.
“We don’t know if we’ll hit water,“ say Sherman Dean, one of the users losing RSA service. 
“And if we do, will the water be sufficient?“
Dean also worries that $7,000 will not cover costs
“Well drilling equipment weighs tons and tons. It’s going to tear up my driveway, and then I’m going to have to tear up my deck to get to a water line.
RSA routinely monitors for contaminants in the drinking water according to federal and state regulations.
  “The Rapidan Service Authority has been testing Lydia on a regular basis and providing the results to the Office of Drinking Water,“ says Jim Moore, deputy field director, Virginia Department of Health-Office of Drinking Water.
Routine monitoring is performed on raw or untreated water prior to any treatment and on the treated water that is delivered to the customers, Moore adds.
Most recently, he says, “coliforms were found in more samples than allowed (in the raw water) and this was a warning of potential problems.“
  Moore explains that coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as indicators that other, potentially harmful, contaminants might be present.
  In addition e-coli was found in the raw water. E-coli was never found in the treated water.
  Sources of contamination were found to be as follows: erosion of natural deposits; runoff from fertilizer use; leaching from septic tanks; and coliform.
  As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally-occurring minerals and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity. Contaminants can come from such things as septic systems, discharges from domestic or industrial wastewater treatment facilities, agricultural and farming activities, and urban storm water runoff.
  According to RSA, they had three choices in dealing with the problem:
• Use the existing springs water supply and add water treatment that would cost $530,000 or $31,176 per account holder, plus increased monthly operational costs;
• Extend the system running though Stanardsville and install booster pumps at a cost of $355,000, or $20,882 per customer plus monthly operational costs;
• Or issue a check for $7,000 per customer to apply toward cost of drilling wells.
“We didn’t think it was fair to ask customers who are not affected by the problem to help bear the cost,“ says Tim Clemons, RSA assistant general manager.
But Dean sees it differently.
“In a utility you lose money on some people and make it up on others,“ he remarks. He adds: “ I’m in my 70s, but some (of the people affected) are in their 80s and 90s. We’re just waiting to die if you get right down to it.“
According to information provided by RSA, that could be a problem in itself: some people are more vulnerable to contaminants. They include:  persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, with immune disorders, and the elderly.
Moore admits that he doesn’t know exactly how contaminated water is getting into the spring, though it could be from run-off following a heavy rainfall.
The situation comes at a time when water regulations are getting tougher and tighter, says Clemens.
Each year there is “more and more testing,“ he says. “Next year, for example, we have to begin a series of tests that will cost $600 a piece, and we have to do those (tests) monthly on three water plants for the next couple of years.“
And Moore points out that Lydia is not the only spring affected, that others in the Shenandoah Valley are being ruled contaminated.
“In the Shenandoah Valley the geology is principally limestone. It is very susceptible to contamination. We’re testing for things we didn’t know anything about 15 years ago,“ says Moore.