I recently attended the quarterly Lewes Mayor and City Council/Board of Public Works joint meeting where I heard Tom Panetta, president of BPW’s board, recognize that our neighborhood has had a long-standing issue with less-than-satisfactory water quality. Special thanks to the mayor for adding this issue to the agenda.
BPW admits there is a problem. They flush the water system monthly to try to alleviate the problem. It’s questionable if the flushing is effective. It is certainly not a long-term solution. The recommended Band-Aid is for all residents to run water for 10 to 15 minutes following each flush, but we sometimes don't know exactly when to do that. I recently had our hot water heater flushed, and the water continued to be rust colored even after 40 minutes of being flushed. It never did completely clear up. The guy performing the flush commented that he “had never seen anything like the water that was coming out of the hose.”
Neighbors have mentioned problems with appliances; laundry staining; cloudy, dirty water; and at least two people have serious health concerns likely due to the iron levels in their water. Several people in the neighborhood are spending thousands of dollars on filters; others are drinking only bottled water. Some can't afford, nor should be expected to incur this cost, nor is it a long-term sustainable solution. Mr. Panetta stated that BPW has a 10-year capital expenditure plan, and this Lewes/Burton issue remediation is not even on that plan.
We have heard a litany of reasons and excuses for why the water pipes can’t be replaced at this time. There are challenges, but as city representative Joe Elder said, “We have to start thinking about how this can be done rather than why it can’t be done.” I couldn't agree more. We live in a town with considerable resources to implement solutions to urgent problems. The community came together to save the Fourth Street Forest. There are actionable options for solving this water issue, but the town just needs the will to do so. This is pretty basic stuff. We are not asking to replace the entire infrastructure in town, even though there are many needs. We are just asking to have the water pipes returned to a safe, functional state. People deserve to be able to drink clean water. This needs to be a priority.
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