Plaistow, N.H., reported substantial progress Thursday afternoon in reducing levels of haloacetic acids—apparently caused by disinfectant byproducts—in the town’s new water supply.
Town Manager Greg A. Colby said results from a March 3 sampling received Thursday show “marked improvement.” He added chemical levels leaving the East Road Pump Station are below the maximum contaminant level and levels in the tank are just above. Further test results show water entering the East Road station from the system in Atkinson are more than half the limit at 25.2 micrograms per liter.
The latest results came shortly after samples taken Feb. 24 showed an increase of 10.5 micrograms per liter at the Sweet Hill Tank site and 22.5 micrograms per liter increase at the East Road Pump Station. Those increases were blamed on water coming into Plaistow from Salem by way of the Hampstead Area Water Company system in Atkinson. “It takes time for this water to work its way through the many miles of piping network. We are continuing to flush and monitoring the pending water results,” Colby noted.
The Plaistow Municipal Water Project went online last September. It is part of a the much larger Southern New Hampshire Regional Water Project that brings water from Manchester through Derry, Windham, Salem and communities served by Hampstead Area Water Company. The goal of the project is to provide clean, safe, reliable drinking water to properties that were impacted by earlier contamination.
Residential and commercial properties could connect with help from a grant paid by the state’s MtBE Settlement Fund.