Study: Neighborhoods in rural Wake County are drinking contaminated water
by Neecole Bostick, originally posted on December 5, 2016
A new study conducted by UNC researchers showed some predominately African-American communities in Wake County lack access to the municipal water system and have higher quantities of contaminants in their well water.
These neighborhoods, known as donut holes, are surrounded by nearby predominately white neighborhoods that do have municipal access.
Contaminants in their well water include E. coli and bacteria associated with human fecal matter. Nearly 30 percent of the well water tested in the study contained coliform bacteria.
“There has been a historical pattern for drawing city boundaries so that certain black neighborhoods were not included,” she said. “If they did not include them, the city did not have to pay for the services.”
Wilson Mize, environmental health manager of Groundwater Protection and Wells for Wake County, said a majority of the residents in a neighborhood have to vote to be included in a city’s boundary.
If a community chooses to become part of the city, Gibson said, homeowners would have pay an initial connection fee of $2500 to access the municipal water supply.
She said homeowners would also have to pay a plumber to connect water lines from their houses to the city supply, in addition to a series of other payments.
Gibson said it would be hard for these communities to pay several thousands of dollars for a water hookup when their well water is free.
Mize said it’s up the homeowner to maintain well water quality.
He said Wake County has one of the more proactive well programs. County officials go door-to-door telling homeowners to sample their wells, aid in the sampling process and hold community meetings to figure out the neighborhoods’ needs. The county then tries to find funding to treat contaminated water.
Mize said his department works with Gibson to reach out to homes with contaminated water but it’s not possible to expand the water supply in all areas.
“In rural places all around the state, not just Wake County, it isn’t possible to expand municipal services, including water,” he said.
Gibson said historically the federal government has invested money in cities to expand water systems so that the cost was not placed on homeowners alone.
“Perhaps additional state funds are needed to extend additional infrastructure to these communities,” she said. “There’s a need to provide financial support to make up the fact that these communities were left behind.”