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No solutions for rural water pollution problem

Posted by: Maven on January 15, 2010 at 7:51 am

From the Voice of San Diego:

“When Sarmed Badri makes coffee in his store, he only uses bottled water.

He refuses to drink tap water during his long shifts at Oak Shores Liquor & Grocery in Lake Morena Village, and he won’t let his customers drink it either. Since the Iraqi native bought the store in East County in 2008, he’s taken a gallon of water from its shelves every other day, at a cost of $25 a month.

“I don’t even give it out when customers ask for a glass from the faucet,” he said. “I don’t want that liability, to be responsible for them.” … “

So what’s the deal here?

” … Drive through the winding roads around Lake Morena Village and one possible contamination source is easy to see. Many houses have fenced-in horses loitering on their front lawns. Nitrates and coliform bacteria in the waste from these horses, as well as cattle and other animals, can seep into the groundwater supply, said Marylynn Yates, an environmental microbiology professor at the University of California, Riverside.

A 2002 county assessment of the water sources for Lake Morena Oak Shores points to another less visible cause: septic systems. The assessment found that the village’s water is most vulnerable to contamination from the area’s high density of septic systems — more than one per acre.

In rural areas like Lake Morena Village, residents use septic systems because their houses are spaced far apart, making a community sewer system too expensive. … “

Read more from the Voice of San Diego by clicking here.

January 15, 2010 · Filed Under Groundwater

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