Water woes

We received an insert with our Hernando County Utilities water bill today, titled "Let's Talk Water." It contains an EPA-required disclosure regarding the quality of water provided by the Utilities Department.

The bottom category of the first table (microbiological contaminants) indicates the water does not meet the standard for fecal and e-coli contaminants.

The table indicates the last sample was completed in January of last year. The related footnote would seem to indicate that the detected presence of fecal and e-coli "may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly and people with severely compromised immune systems."

Perhaps we can be so bold as to ask the Hernando County Utilities to provide additional information on this matter. They might like to title it "Talking Turkey."

Can the problem be corrected? Is all system water contaminated or just some areas?

What is the level of the contamination? What steps (if any) are required by the public? Why was the last test, of a category in violation of MCL standards, done about a year and a half ago?

Most of our households include people who are mentioned in your footnote. While we suspect that our water is safe to drink, would you please clarify the fecal e-coli issue?

Loren Shellabarger

Spring Hill