Recently, it was divulged that the Exeter government's water management has led to contaminant levels that have exceeded some regulatory amounts. Maybe these regulatory limits are absurdly low (like other government-mandated limits, such as BAC or driving speeds). Maybe not. I have no idea if this is serious or not. (Of course, the attitude is "there is nothing to see here, move along, citizen." The notice says, in part,
...some people who drink water containing trihalomethanes in excess of the MCL over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys, or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
Ha ha ha. It's not an emergency, but it might be if you drink our water long enough.
I do know that the Exeter government cannot "lose customers." (The notice laughably called us "customers" instead of mandated participants). If this were a private company (think Poland Springs, or Dasani), this would be a PR nightmare, all over the news. Not so for government-owned resources. "Ho hum, we'll do what we can. Oh well!"
People should be concerned. Exeter's levels of trihalomethanes in 2010 was 159 parts per billion, when the federal legal limit is 80 parts per billion. That's double the safety standards! This problem still persists today and evidence suggests it has been going on as far back as 2001. Now, I'm not sure what the town of Exeter classifies as several years, but I'd say 15 years just about does it.
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