The Lynnfield Center Water District (LCWD) is advising Lynnfield residents that later this week, the LCWD plans to activate the newly constructed interconnection with the Town of Wakefield, introducing MWRA as a new source of water supply to the system, on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
The connection will provide additional water quantity and will supplement existing water supplies within the LCWD system.
“Our project team has been working for several years, and we look forward to activating the connection and increasing our water supply to the District,” John Scenna, LCWD director, said. “We intend to introduce MWRA water initially at a very low flow rate and increase it as needed and demanded.”
He added, “Our operators will be monitoring several locations throughout the system on a routine basis and are following all conditions placed by the MWRA, DEP (Department of Environmental Protection), and WRC (Water Resources Commission) on this process.”
Scenna added that introducing a new source is expected to possibly “alter flow direction patterns of water in the system,” which may cause some initial discoloration.
If you encounter that issue, LCWD asks that you to run your cold water from an outside spigot to clear the discoloration and call or email the LCWD office so that the issue can be recorded and monitored moving forward.
LCWD wrote that while LCWD’s water supply provides disinfection using chlorine, MWRA uses chloramination. Drinking water will continue to be safe and meet all drinking water standards.
According to LCWD, water containing chloramines is no different than chlorinated water for most normal uses and is perfectly safe to drink. LCWD added that the differences in sources will not have an effect on personal use, unless someone is a kidney dialysis patient or fish owner.
Chloramine compounds are mild and long-lasting disinfectants used to treat drinking water, which are not much different than chlorine. Chloramines are used to provide ongoing disinfection treatment as water moves through miles of distribution pipes from the treatment plant to consumers’ taps.
Chloraminated water meets Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards and is safe to use for drinking, cooking, bathing and other household uses. Disinfection using chloramines has been used by water utilities for almost 100 years.
Scenna encouraged anyone with questions to visit the LCWD website – LCWD.US – or call (781) 334-3901. Additional information can be found at LCWD at 83 Phillips Road in Lynnfield.
