Students share opinions about the water
Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: News
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Staff writers
Yes. Never. Sometimes, why? It tastes gross. It is bad. It has rust. It is dirty.
These are opinions about the water at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. Rumors fly, such as a comment from international student Tobey Wu, "Are you crazy? Of course I don't drink water here"; or Resident Assistant Carolyn Ouellet, "I have heard the water is unsafe."
A recent project about water at SMWC showed that people drink the water and that the water is safe.
However, according to a survey about drinking water conducted by students in JO100 News Reporting of residents of Le Fer Hall, 44 out of 92 people surveyed drink the water, 37 out of 92 people don't, and 11 out of 92 people do sometimes. If you divide them into yes and no questions, that would be 55 out of 92 people drink the water on campus - either from faucets or fountains -- which means more than 50 percent of those surveyed drink the water at SMWC.
The questions on the survey included whether students drink the water; if they don't drink the water why they don't.
Some report seeing different colors of water come out of taps on campus. "When I wash my hands, sometimes the color is yellow," said Christopher Hudson, associate professor of English and chair of the Language of Literature Department. His office is in Guerin Hall.
"Especially I saw the color of water's yellow after breaks and I also smelled something like iron from the water," said international student Sylvia Chen.
According to Becky Pittman, water plant operator for the Sisters of Providence, which supplies the water to SMWC, this is a normal situation on campus because the water has stayed in the pipe for a while. If you see this kind of problem, let water flow from the faucet until the water is clean, she said.
The College has made efforts to improve water quality in recent years. "We replaced the hot water storage tank three years ago in the library to address the rust problem," said Gordon Afdahl, vice president for finance and administration at SMWC. He also said the pipes from the library to Le Fer Hall were replaced approximately four years ago because rust water was coming through the Le Fer Hall pipes.
Some students who live in Le Fer Hall see white stuff often in the water and that is why some students like Tobey Wu aren't willing to drink water. "It is just hard water. We have a very bad hard water problem," said housekeeper Pam Hanson.
Still, the water is safe. The water system of the Sisters of Providence is a public water system and is regulated by the state of Indiana. The water at SMWC is tested every other day for iron, chlorine, PH. Pittman at the water plan also does a bacteria test once a month and sends it to an off-site lab, which is required by the state. When they are testing for certain substances and they find there is a red flag level, they start to test more often. If there is something in the water that would endanger people, a boil order is issued. Moreover, the pipes of SMWC get flushed out at least every other day.
Even though the water is safe, there is still a problem with some students having no confidence in water quality. They still don't feel safe to drink water because of the color (white stuff or rust color).
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