System expected to solve Whaleyville's water woes

SUFFOLK

Adrienne Smith turns down fluoride treatments when she visits the dentist. She figures she's been exposed to enough of the substance in her 14 years of living in Whaleyville.

The rural village, in the southern part of the city, has fluoride levels above the federal standards for drinking water, and the area's old pipes are known for producing occasionally murky water - or sometimes no water at all.

Residents have complained for years, out of fear for their health and annoyance with the system's inconveniences.

In January, construction crews will begin work in Whaleyville on a new water system - one that is more reliable and has lower fluoride levels.

The city has received a groundwater permit from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, finalized design elements and chosen a construction company, Norfolk-based W.R. Hall Inc.

The $5.5 million project should be completed by January 2009.

"Once we're done and out of there, they should be very happy with us," said Craig Ziesemer, assistant director of public utilities.

Whaleyville residents have never been connected to city water lines, and doing so would be expensive and impractical, Ziesemer said.

Instead, about 180 households draw water from two community wells that are roughly 60 years old. A well's typical service life is between 40 and 50 years.

Though it has owned the wells for decades, Suffolk did not take over their operation until about three years ago when federal regulations required an upgrade.

It was obvious that the system needed improvements, Ziesemer said.

Federal drinking water standards call for no more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter. Whaleyville's water has levels between 4-1/2 and 5-1/2 milligrams.

Drinking water with high levels of fluoride can damage and discolor teeth, as well as harm bones. Young children and older adults are particularly at risk.

Smith gave up drinking the water piped into her home years ago. She now purchases water in gallon jugs.

But not everyone can afford to buy drinking water, Smith said, and the fluoride overexposure may have had an effect.

"I've seen folks at church with pitted teeth, stained teeth," she said.

City officials found water with less fluoride about a year and a half ago after drilling two production wells in Whaleyville. They've since decided to locate the new wells on those sites, on land already owned by the city.

The updated water system also requires two miles of new pipes and an elevated water storage tank with a 250,000-gallon capacity.

Throughout next year, workers will dig trenches on parts of Whaleyville Boulevard and other side roads to install the pipes. They'll likely keep the affected roads open one-way during construction, Ziesemer said.

The new pipes, made of ductile iron, will be larger in diameter and won't rust, unlike the smaller, galvanized steel pipes currently in use.

Problems with water pressure "should essentially go away" with the new system, Ziesemer said.

Dean Russell, a longtime Whaleyville resident, said he'll believe it when he sees it. He and other residents were initially told the project would be completed by this year.

"We've had the same discussions in steering committee meetings for two years..." Russell said. "I wanna see shovels and hard hats."

Hattie Brown Garrow, (757) 222-5562, hattie.brown@pilotonline.com