Southern DE city water and sewers? (Lewes, Millsboro: new home, refrigerator, homebuyer)

[sbcbill]

The wife and I have been vacationing in DE and MD for years. We are both approaching retirement and want to find a new place to call home. Yes, we are lifelong New Jerseyans. Our 8K a year tax bill will be impossible when we no longer work. We love the serenity of southern DE but, the chicken farms and processing plants seem to be everywhere. We have zeroed in on the Milton/Lewes area for a few reasons, namely the availiability of clean drinking water and city sewers. Also, a house with a basement can be found. Are there any other towns in the Lewes area that offer the above amenities? We have several friends that have moved to DE in the past 10 years; they all have water filtration systems in their houses to cleanse the drinking water, we do not want this worry. What do all of the DE residents in the Lewes area have to say about my question?
Thank you,
Bill

[queenofbavaria]

I can't see why a filtration system can be a worry. It would worry me NOT to have one - anywhere in Delaware (and in other states).
I was and still am concerned about all the bad stuff in the air, in the water ...

Delaware still remains as one of states with the highest cancer rate - and besides organic food and water filtration there is not a lot you can do.
a water filtration system is an inexpensive solution.
we got ours for 600 dollars and added an under sink water filter for the kitchen and baths.

good luck with your plans anyway

[susieC]

What timing! Our water is just awful, the taste, the smell, even the ice is bad (and that's with a refrigerator filter) Then there were the recent newspaper articles. Ugggg. I've just been on line looking at water filtration systems. We thought initially just go for one under the sink but now are comtemplating a whole house. Would love some input from those who've had them installed i.e., price, brand, etc. Thanks!

[armx]

For all the investigative work by Jeff Montgomery's team the headline in the NewsJournal (NJ) papers is misleading.......The anecdotal info. comes from water consumers who have INDIVIDUAL (private) wells near the refinery and the chemical industry near the Delaware City. Please correct me if somebody made another observation.

Most public water suppliers have deeper wells and they are required to check for and treat water to meet State standards before supplying the customers.

This is one of those cases where trying to shorten the headline lost the whole meaning of the article - the HEADING SHOULD HAVE BEEN GROUND WATER NEAR THE REFINERY and NOT Delaware Water.

It is not known where SusieC lives. ........Occasionally the public systems are flushed after a PUBLIC NOTICE and that day the water naturally is going to have many undesirable elements present and if you are the only one opening the tap you are the one who is going to get a dose of whatever is being flushed out.

[little eggplant]

Originally Posted by susieC

What timing! Our water is just awful, the taste, the smell, even the ice is bad (and that's with a refrigerator filter) Then there were the recent newspaper articles. Ugggg. I've just been on line looking at water filtration systems. We thought initially just go for one under the sink but now are comtemplating a whole house. Would love some input from those who've had them installed i.e., price, brand, etc. Thanks!

Good morning, susieC - I am a bit surprised at your statement. Do your neighbors have similar comments? I ask this because hubby and I always travel with a small glass cup we take with us when visiting potential new homes just for the specific reason of tasting the water and found that the drinking water at CC was quite good. Do you think, perhaps as mentioned, that a flush had just been done of the system or is this your daily condition?

[susieC]

We are in Magnolia and the water taste is not the result of a flush. In talking to neighbors, everyone I spoke with drinks only bottled water but uses the tap water for everything else. The water here is very hard and we are not used to that. I'm going to change the refrigerator filter and see if that helps the ice (even though the refrig is new). In making ice tea, boiling the water a few minutes seems to help the taste of the tea. The water is clear but must contain a lot of iron as it is hard.
All in all, a small price to pay to live in such a wonderful area!

[armx]

Aah SusieC, that is hard water not contaminated water. There are a few areas in Kent and Sussex where water is hard and/or high in Iron content. That is why Millsboro has traditionally been the area the locals prefer to buy a house in....Least problematic ground water!! Developers who have come from outside are not aware of that.... let alone the purchasers.

But if the water supply is public there should have been some treatment of it before consumers take delivery of water ....may be they are leaving it to each homebuyer to have individual treatment.