Before the regular Common Council meeting last Tuesday, city officials were given the results of a recent study of the water system to determine how extensive the problem with elevated manganese levels really is, as well as the possible price tag of various options to remedy it.
According to the report by Strand Associates presented to the Committee of a Whole, it will cost the city a minimum of $1 million and as high as $1.25 million to remove the high concentrations of manganese from the water supply.
Manganese is a heavy metal that appears in water in a dissolved state and usually manifests itself as a bad taste or black discoloration on pipes and sinks and toilets. While considered to be a nuisance, ingestion of high levels of the substance has been linked to intellectual disabilities in children.
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