By Christine Briel / Skaneateles Design

The Skaneateles lake/water seem to be getting a lot of press lately. We even have a user on the SkaneatelesTalk User blogs who just created a blog titled Under the radar - below is the owners’ comment relating to the purpose of the blog:

Hi everybody. This blog is being set up to give residents a chance to voice their feelings about development in the watershed, lake quality and boating issues.

Enjoy!

Comment by Key of Sea — March 18, 2008

It should be interesting to see what people have to say on the subject. I know just last week in the Skaneateles Journal I read a letter written by Bill Pavlus (a former supervisor for the Town of Skaneateles). He seemed very concerned that our town and village officials weren’t giving the Skaneateles water issue enough importance and needed to address some issues now not later. Below is a direct quote from Pavlus’ letter to the Skaneateles Journal:

I sincerely believe that it is well past time that the elected officials of our village and town put a lot more time into planning for the future water needs of our two municipal entities.

The Town of Skaneateles is already under an EPA directive to cover its uncovered in-ground reservoir serving Mottville and Skaneateles Falls. Another outbreak of waterborne disease anywhere in the United States could turn EPA loose with a whole new set of directives for water suppliers. If that happens, where would we be?

If that isn’t enough for you, this Monday the online version of the Auburn Citizen ran an article titled “EPA orders sterilization of lakes water”. Sounds to me like the Skaneateles lake/water is now getting some attention - or at least more than it was. Here is an excerpt from that article:

The lake’s water is so pure, in fact, that the municipal water systems do not filter the liquid.

However, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to ensure the lake’s water is as clean as possible.

As part of the guidelines for what’s known as the “Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule,” which provides standards for unfiltered water systems, the EPA has asked the municipalities served by Skaneateles Lake to upgrade their systems.

Despite the water’s purity, EPA representatives say the water potentially could contain some harmful parasites after it reaches the communities, so they ordered the municipalities to implement some method of sterilization.

Both village and Syracuse leaders are considering installing ultraviolet lamps to “zap” the harmful organisms, said John Hunt, village director of municipal operations.

“We use what’s called a ‘filtration avoidance system,’” he explained. “That’s pretty unusual in the context of water supply.”

The lake water is chlorinated and fluoridated. Until now, that was all the EPA required, Hunt said.

If your interested in reading more on this Auburnpub.com article click here to read it in its entirety.

It seems that to me the water issue has just begun and we will be hearing even more of it in the future. If you have something to say on the subject join in on the Talk over at Under the radar’s SkanTalk blog.

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