Another Chapter in the Dirty Water Saga

Although everyone at city hall has been playing stupid  (ok … maybe not entirely playing)  about the dirty water problem the Corrector has discovered that City Water officials have known the cause of the problem for some time now. The flooding has increased turbidity and bacteria’s in the raw water which has raised the need to increase the chlorine and other chemical content of our water to insure that it is safe. The increased chlorine levels attract rust from the water pipes causing the brown rusting water which is staining our laundry. To cure this problem yet another chemical has to be added to the water treatment process to neutralize the effects of the chlorine. Apparently this chemical is expensive and the City staff just plain will not do it because of the added cost and chose instead to play stupid and tell us they are working on a solution which buys them some time for nature to take its course and for the water to clear up a bit.

While the Corrector came down harshly on Councilman Cue Ball for his ignorant comment about rust colored towels we have also learned that the council is being kept in the dark about the real cause of this problem. Councilman Veis deserved a slam for the ignorant comment he made but the truth is that none of the council people have a clue as to what is happening. (particularly the senile ones) Apparently the City Department heads are much like the school administration and actually hide facts from the council who are elected to represent us the taxpayers.

So to make a long story short – It’s all about the money. It costs bucks to treat the water correctly and we are told the City Water department is losing money. The water enterprise fund depends on summer at least being moderately hot and dry so residents have to purchase vast amounts of water to keep their lawns green. Most people in Havre haven’t even watered their landscaping once this year causing the water department budget to be in arrears. You can count on the council voting to raise your water rates to make up for this deficit in their budget so get ready to storm City Hall if you have any objections.

In addition the Great Northern Inn manager and others with damaged wash have picked up claim forms at City Hall for damage caused by the unclean water. We wonder how high the damage claims will reach?  Head on down and file your claim!

Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to just properly treat the water in the first place and avoid all this bad press and damage claims?