SLIDELL – St. Tammany Parish government kicked off a $23 million infrastructure plan for the Cross Gates area water system after years of complaints from residents there.
Leading the list of complaints was whether or not the sometimes off-color water is good to drink.
The Slidell Independent approached Director of Utilities Chris Tissue and asked him to answer some questions about why the parish government firmly states the water is safe, yet many residents over the years have complained about getting sick or been unhappy with the occasionally darkish color to the water.
Here are his comments:
Some critics say that after ammonia is added to the water for purification, the first homes to receive the water have a higher content of ammonia than others—hence, a poor taste to the water. Do you agree with that assessment?
No, taste are subjective and are specific to each individual, including water. Many people do not prefer a chlorine taste which is one of the reasons most refrigerators now come with a built in carbon filter on the refrigerator water system and others use the Brita pitchers. The ammonia in the water has already reacted with the sodium hypochlorite by the time it gets to the first homes. The raw source water from the water well contains ammonia, which impacts the water chemistry and is the reason for utilizing a Chloramine (Total Chlorine) disinfection system instead of a Free Chlorine disinfection system. The ammonia reacts with the sodium hypochlorite (liquid chlorine) that is injected into the well water to form Chloramines. The ammonia should be completely combined with the chlorine before it enters the distribution system; however, if someone has concerns please advise and we will sample the water and investigate.
-What else can the parish do that would improve the taste of the water so residents all agree and don’t see reason to complain?
Even with a top dollar filter system and completely new pipes, the water still needs to be disinfected with chlorine or chloramines to disinfect the water which will always impact the taste. Again, taste preferences are subjective and different for most people. Ultimately, tap water is going to taste different than bottled water, and many people prefer different bottled water brands taste over another bottle water brand.
Some critics say that a top priority should be to replace the water main that goes from Willowood under Gause to St. Luke church. Some believe it has had numerous breaks and leaks.
The priority at this time is to provide the additional storage capacity needed per the recently completed hydraulic model and to completely rehabilitate the well facilities to secure the production of the source water. The ability to continuously produce and provide quality drinking water to the residents is the focus and starts with the water wells and storage capacity. The water main in the area you mentioned has had minimal leaks in the past couple of years. When a water main is replaced this will be one of the priority areas as well as the rest of the Cross Gates Boulevard loop that provide the distribution loop to all of Cross Gates and surrounding areas.