DIXFIELD – Town officials got a better idea of their shortcomings Monday night pertaining to past attempts to solve an ongoing problem of water laced with lead and copper.

Bill Dawson, an engineer with Sevee & Maher Engineers Inc. of Cumberland Center, presented his draft study of the town’s water system and piping infrastructure.

According to his initial analysis, town officials appear to have been using “extremely low” amounts of sodium hydroxide, soda ash and aeration in attempts to comply with state rules regarding lead and copper concentrations.

He suggested that the town buy and install a water heater to completely dissolve soda ash, because it doesn’t fully dissolve in cold water.

Dawson’s study also revealed why some homeowners are seeing rust-colored water that has stained clothing washed in it. This seemed to come as a surprise to selectmen.

Dawson said Dixfield’s water has an iron concentration that’s right on the threshold of being problematic. He said the concentration of 0.3 parts per million would cause an oxidant reaction that he believes would be worse on dead-end pipes.

Town officials initially suspected they had a handful of such pipe situations. But as of Monday night, they learned there are 17 dead-end lines in town.

He said the town has a variety of options to correct the problem, like chemical treatment. The town could reduce the chlorine feed or use a phosphorous-based chemical to reduce the concentration. However, he warned, that would be “bad news” for wastewater.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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