The following statement was submitted by Brad Muirhead:

Hello. I would like to place a piece on your web site about our water here in Italy, Texas. For starters everyone knows how bad the water is and how it smells strongly with chlorine and I’m sure you have noticed some sediment in your dishwasher after washing dishes. It rots the pipes and fittings causing the pipes and fittings to leak. Also clothes are getting discolored and ruined because of this. I have a load of clothes I have kept to show the city what the water has done, but I keep getting the same answer, “Have you tried a different laundry soap” or “I’ll send some one to go look at it.” What exactly are they going to look at and what does changing laundry soap have to do with it? Even if you shower, you still feel dirty and it dries out your skin and hair. What does it take to get certified people to fix this problem? A solution needs to be put in place, I cannot afford to keep buying new clothes everytime the water ruins them. I for one would like to see something done about this…wouldn’t You?

The City of Italy made the following comments regarding Mr. Muirhead’s concerns:

The problems with our water supply have been a priority of concern for the City of Italy for over 20 years. We used to rely on two aquifiers to filter our water but now the city uses just one aquifier which helped early on. The biggest obstacle Italy faces is the high volume of minerals found in the city’s well water. The minerals themselves can have a chemical reaction to certain detergents. The die in your clothes can have a reaction as well. It’s hard to say what detergent might be best since the levels of minerals are constantly changing.

We realize many citizens feel there is to much chlorine in the water often detected by a strong odor. The chlorine is necessary to keep the citizens of Italy from getting sick. The TCEQ requires no less than .2 parts per million of chlorine to be present in our water supply. Italy’s chlorine count is manually set from .5 to 1.5 parts per million depending on the amount of pipes currently leaking around town and possibly the seasons. A .5 chlorine count is the lowest count the City of Italy has ever done, so it’s highly unlikely the chlorine is causing the problems. Ensuring the set amount of chlorine is dispensed properly, an automatic dispenser is utilized taking the human element out of it.

The TML (Texas Municipal League) conducts meetings with the mayor on a regular basis as does the TCEQ. In fact, the TML met with the Mayor recently at City Hall but even these specialized organizations struggle to offer a solid solution. One idea tried was a water retention system allowing the water to settle before being released. Unfortunately, it just made things worse. Coolant towers were then constructed to hold the water, allowing it to cool, before releasing it into the main water tower. We had hoped this would at least solve any chemical reactions that might be affecting our clothes but no noticeable change occurred.

The City of Italy is currently seeking a deal with the City of Waxahachie to have lake water piped in. Lake water is more free flowing and would hopefully both taste better and hopefully not as likely to ruin our clothes. However, this venture is no guarantee that all would be perfect and the contract would be an expensive one that would require everyone’s water bill to increase.

So, our choices are: A.) Stay with our current well water system and keep everyone’s water bill lower. B.) Transport in Waxahachie Lake Water that will increases everyone’s water rates and doesn’t come with a 100% guarantee that our problems would be solved. And finally C.) Pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to maybe bring in a “certified water engineer” to solve a problem that there is just no clear-cut solution for.

Mayor Jackson adds, “The City of Italy tries to make decisions that would serve the needs of all Italy’s citizens. We’re all in this town together and I just am not willing to put Italy at risk without making the most informed decisions I can. I have met with Mr. Muirhead on this issue already and will gladly discuss with him further.”

Mayor Frank Jackson had this to say regarding the water situation, “I want to assure everyone, if there was a better solution we would have tried it. We are always open for ways to improve the quality of living for all our citizens.” The City of Italy pays the TML and TECQ monthly allowing the city to refer to them 24 hours a day. Dr. Victoria Hawkins from Austin has met with the Mayor to discuss possible solutions also.

The City of Italy is certainly open to suggestions from it’s local citizens and/or outside sources regarding this matter. The Mayor will even meet on Saturdays if that is best for you.

Comments

by Keith Roberts, on Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 8:41 a.m.

I can sympathize with what Mr. Muirhead is saying. My wife told me that to lessen the possibility of the clothes staining in the washing machine she removes them as quickly as possible after the spin cycle ends. If the clothes stay in the machine for very long after the cycle ends they are more likely to stain. I also feel that the water has improved some since we first came to Italy in 1991 based on the fact that our water heater had to be replaced after only three years then, and now we are on 8 years and counting. I also believe that our water bills in Italy, including trash removal and sewer debt service, have to be among the highest in Ellis County. I realize that the sewer improvements were mandated by law. I’m thankful that our school taxes are among the lowest in the county. My school taxes were just a couple of hundred dollars more than the city taxes.

By Concerned Citizen, on Friday 13, 2009 at 1:41 p.m.

What confuses me is that Ellis County water tastes so much better than the City of Italy’s water, but they share the same geographical area. What is the difference between the two?