FRANKLIN, Pa. (EYT) — The city’s ongoing water issue was the main topic of discussion at Thursday night’s Franklin General Authority Advisory Board meeting.
Council Chairperson Ann Rudegeair opened up the meeting by welcoming the citizens who attended and giving a summary of recent issues with Franklin’s water.
Rudegeair explained the timeline of events with the first report on Thursday, February 1, from a Third Ward resident who complained of a blue stain in the laundry tub and a blue stain on their laundry. City staff and engineers met to determine the cause of the lone incident to see if it was related to the city’s system. There were no additional complaints to the city until late in the evening of February 6 and early morning on February 7 when there were reports of either bluish or brownish water being pumped. Again, city staff and engineers continued to work together to determine the cause. February 8 was when the issue started to peak. Five calls were received from Third Ward residents: four reports of blue or green water, and one report of someone who had thrown up after taking a full glass of water.
At this point, the city immediately called DEP (Department of Environmental Protection), and it was diagnosed that it was probably coming from one of two of the industrial plants that service that area — Franklin Bronze or Franklin Industries. (Later testing determined that the problem existed in another area.)
This was when the city issued the “Do Not Drink Water” warning to the targeted area, according to Rudegeair.
Upon inspecting the water flow, it was determined there was a malfunction of one of the valves, testing of the water was performed, and elevated levels of fluoride were discovered. It was noted that the tests were city tests and not certified testing by the DEP. Throughout this time, water for all purposes was provided for the residents in the affected area at Franklin Fire Department.
Rudegeair stated that some of the staff at Barrett Flats noticed that there was a pump that was not functioning — a pump that put the flow of fluoride into the system. There were three different malfunctions with the pump which allowed elevated amounts of fluoride into the system. They cut off the fluoride flow from the two pumps — one in each plant — and began to flush the lines, and continued to take tests, Rudegeair explained.
Rudegeair stated that they still weren’t sure whether this was the cause of the water issue, but the city continued to work with DEP.
On the morning of February 9, it was determined that the problem was not within the industrial plants, and DEP suggested that the problem was probably the fluoride, according to Rudegeair.
On February 14,