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Aloha Water Fix Moving Forward On New Report

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By CARL ORTH, The Suncoast News

Published: October 17, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - About 10 months behind schedule, an Aloha Utilities treatment project looks to be back on track now that a consultant has started sending information on resolving longstanding water quality problems.
Environmental scientist Audrey Levine has been a consultant for Aloha since 2004, when the utility hired the University of South Florida - where Levine was a professor at the time - to work on a solution to the 'black water' contamination of Aloha's wells. She has been finalizing reports on the design, permitting and installation of a new filtration system.

But in early September, Aloha's lawyer told state officials that Levine, who left USF in December to work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, had failed to produce the documents despite the utility's cajoling.

Without Levine's recommendations, state officials warned, there might be yet another delay in moving forward with a fix for the discolored and foul-smelling drinking water customers have complained about for years.

On Oct. 5, the first part of Levine's report arrived, Aloha executives told Florida Public Service Commission staff during a recent conference in New Port Richey.

With that information in hand, David Gomberg, a hydrologist hired by Aloha, can analyze any effect on groundwater supplies, turf and vegetation, commission spokesman Todd Brown said.

The hydrology report becomes necessary because plans call for reclaiming water derived from the fixed-bed anion exchange system that the private utility has agreed to install at its five treatment plants as part of a commission-approved settlement with customer representatives.
Anion exchange involves water passing through a filtration system attached to the wells. In recent studies, the new technology has proved effective for removing hydrogen sulfide from most drinking-water systems.

Previous USF research, conducted by Levine, attributed Aloha's problems to an excess of hydrogen sulfide, an organic compound found in most potable water systems.

By Oct. 29, Aloha is scheduled to submit a permit application to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to install the new water treatment systems.

By Dec. 1, Levine is scheduled to file her final report for the second phase of the project.

Company officials predict the project will be completed by the end of May 2009. The next quarterly update meeting with customer representatives, Aloha and Public Service Commission officials is scheduled for early January.

Aloha intends to update its Web site with the new timeline and other information, Brown said. The company also might provide customers with project updates sent with their water bills.

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