For the week of June 27 - July 3, 2001

E. coli found in McHanville well

Water quality expert warns of bigger problem

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"Anytime you get a cluster of septic systems and wells in close proximity, you’re asking for trouble."

Bob Erickson, South Central Health District.

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By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer

Too many people using septic systems in the densely populated McHanville area, south of Ketchum, may be the cause of bacteria contamination in at least five wells there.

Tests of well water at Sun Tree Hollow trailer park during the past year have revealed the presence of E. coli intestinal bacteria. E. coli indicates fecal pollution and the possible presence of other organisms that cause diseases such as typhoid, polio and hepatitis.

Coliform bacteria, which health officials use to track E. coli, has shown up in a Blaine County Recreation District well near the bike path. It has also appeared in a well at the Gypsy trailer park and in the wells of two single-family homes south of McHanville.

Residents say bad water has made one person sick, though the reports have not been confirmed.

"Anytime you get a cluster of septic systems and wells in close proximity, you’re asking for trouble," said Bob Erickson, senior environmental health specialist with the South Central Health District.

The health district, with an office in Hailey, and the Department of Environmental Quality, in Twin Falls, require public wells to be tested regularly.

Health district rules now prohibit more than one housing unit per acre to be built where septic systems are used. Most properties in McHanville, with densities much higher than that, were developed before the rule was made.

Shallow wells, porous soil and a narrowing of the valley near McHanville may be contributing to the problem.

Erickson has been working with Sun Tree Hollow manager Ted Miller to upgrade the 2.1-acre property’s existing septic system to properly handle the effluent produced by the 84 people who live there.

However, Erickson said, there is no conclusive evidence that the trailer park is contaminating other wells or even its own. The bacteria could be coming from elsewhere. He said the health district is helping with the upgrade at Sun Tree Hollow because that’s where tests revealed E. coli.

Until the upgrades are completed or another permanent solution is found, a chlorinating device has been added to the Sun Tree Hollow well to sanitize its water. The devices also have been added to other wells.

The recreation district closed its well and a water fountain on the bike path just south of Highway 75. The district was scheduled this week to move the fountain north of Highway 75, where access to city water lines is available, said Shelly Preston, trails supervisor.

Some believe the best solution may be to help landowners connect to Sun Valley Water and Sewer District lines installed by St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center in 2000.

Sewage treated at a Sun Valley plant would be less likely to contaminate groundwater than sewage leached into the soil by septic systems.

The lines, however, run along the west side of the highway and may not be available to properties, such as Sun Tree Hollow, on the east side. The cost of switching to city water and sewer may also deter some landowners.

Whatever the solution, water quality expert Lee Brown said he plans to "keep prodding the powers that be" to look more seriously at protecting water quality.

Brown is a professor from San Diego State University with a Ph.D. in water resources. He now lives just south of McHanville and works as a private consultant. He said he worries more about water quality than about water supply as the population of the Wood River Valley increases.

"At what point do you become proactive?" he said. Though he doesn’t want to be perceived as an alarmist, he thinks water-born bacteria in McHanville is the "first indication of a problem that will only get worse."

But measuring the severity of the problem is difficult. Less than five years ago, Erickson said, the city of Hailey temporarily chlorinated its water to kill bacteria. The Hulen Meadows development, north of Ketchum, and Cold Springs neighborhood, south of McHanville, also have had problems.

Given those and the McHanville problem, Brown said, "you will see at a progressive pace a growing interest in water quality here."

 

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