Is drinking water safe there? (Wilmington, Dover: hotels, house, buy)

[TootsieWootsie]

I've read that the drinking water is not safe to drink in Wilmington, but have no idea if that goes, also, for the Dover or Southern end of Delaware. Does anyone know how safe the water is to drink in Delaware now?

[rdlr]

When you buy a house with a private well, a water test is required for bacteria, nitrates, iron, etc. Public water supply must meet federal/state requirements for all of the above, and that includes communities, towns and cities. I live in a small town and our public water supply is tested very frequently, with results sent to homeowners/occupants. I've been drinking water up and down the state for 67 years, and am still kicking!

[ltdontcare]

Hey, we're the cancer capitol of the US! Don't know if it's the water or the air but it's gotta be comming from somewhere.

[Charley]

Originally Posted by ltdontcare

Hey, we're the cancer capitol of the US! Don't know if it's the water or the air but it's gotta be comming from somewhere.

No, Delaware is not the cancer capitol. There are other messages in the Delaware forum that have the actual statistics. The most recent data has Kentucky with the highest rates. Delaware was #15, about 5.4% higher than the national average and having fallen 2.0% from the previous year.

[rdlr]

Ruth Ann Minner is our Governor, a democrat. Like her or not, democrat or not, she did us One Big Favor in getting the smoking ban passed. That was a gutsy move on her part, and has helped us all, health-wise. There's no smoking in any public building, store, restaurant, or casino. Legislation is now being looked at to ban smoking on beaches and boardwalks in Delaware. Statistics show we're healthier, thanks to that law.

[anniebleu]

Dover gets brown water, varying shades!, at times. It is related to the flushing out of older pipes, and they reassure us about the safety of the water. We tend to put ours through a filter at those times though! It's probably mostly iron, and we're warned that it can stain laundry, though we've not had that problem.

As Delly probably remembers, years ago, twenty or so, the Dover water was so pure (and tasty) that no chemicals were needed.

[rdlr]

Annie....I forgot about Dover's brown water problem. I'm not in Dover, but I know that's been a problem for about 10 years, hasn't it? We have good water here in the Town of Wyoming, and receive test results frequently.

[Charley]

Originally Posted by anniebleu

Dover gets brown water, varying shades!, at times. It is related to the flushing out of older pipes, and they reassure us about the safety of the water. We tend to put ours through a filter at those times though! It's probably mostly iron, and we're warned that it can stain laundry, though we've not had that problem.

As Delly probably remembers, years ago, twenty or so, the Dover water was so pure (and tasty) that no chemicals were needed.

Oh we have that in my area of New York as well. It's not as often as it used to be. The only water experience I have in Dover is from the Marriot hotels, which always seems to be clear and clean. It could be filtered. I don't know.

In my area of New York, they call it "hard water".

[rdlr]

Our "Hard" water came from the well, of which we've had many. Our hard water was only obvious in the shower or in the washing machine, and didn't make a lot of suds when using soap. Our hard water was never brown, though.

Here's Dover's schedule for flushing:
City of Dover - Dover Guide - City News & Notices

[anniebleu]

Delly, yes, I think 10 years for the episodes of brown water is about right. My husband and I both think that it was around 20 years ago that the city started adding chlorine. Before that, such a pleasure to drink Dover's water!

Charlie, as I understand it, it isn't a hard water problem in the ordinary sense.