City Wants to Flush Manganese From Pipes
February 13 , 2006
The mayor's office in Madison, Wisconsin is developing a “manganese working group” which will take up the current water issues with the community. The most prevalent and recent water woe has been the tainted water that has raised health concerns.
The discoloration of laundry and ruined piping fixtures is what has caused the alarm in the city. Manganese and iron get into the water supply as water in the city's aquifers draw in minerals from bedrock. The human nervous system can be severely damaged if high levels of exposure are continued over a long period of time. Infants are particularly harmed as the exposure can affect brain development and cause liver damage.
There has never been a safe level of manganese exposure. Testing has always focused on taste, odor and color, not what the health side affects are. Now, though, with recent testing for manganese and iron having variable results, a new approach to raising the quality of water has been implemented.
Principal engineer for the Madison Water Utility, Al Larson, believes that they can remedy the current water situation by flushing out the systems. The Madison Water Utility has now begun a new flushing technique that he believes will work.
This new system involves shutting off the valves to increase water velocity through pipes. This in turn should expel bedrock sediments from the lines. Larson believes that this will take up to three crews, flushing two miles of pipe a day, for six months to complete the flushing process. After this, it may take the city itself a while before they can determine if the flushing needs to be done again.
Some believe, though, that this flushing is only a first step to a more complex problem. Mayoral aide and manganese working group organizer, Jeanne Hoffman, believes that that both the city Water Utility and the Public Health Department are obligated to the people of Madison to formulate a consistent message for the community about water safety.
If the newest flushing technique does not work out for the city, Larson believes that investing $3 million in new wells might be the next best alternative.To learn more about manganese exposure and its various side effects, contact a manganese attorney.
