While he remains mum on what happened at the water treatment plant to bring about a criminal investigation, Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski wants to make clear that Andover drinking water meets or exceeds all government standards.
Last week, the Townsman published a letter from Marion Avenue resident Tony Bielecki calling on the town to end its silence about the investigation. The man said the town should at least have made clear the alleged improprieties that took place did not affect the drinking water.
In response, Stapczynski has issued this statement:
Manager on Andover water
I am writing to remind the public that the Town of Andover drinking water is treated according to strict State and Federal standards. On a daily basis, EPA and State regulations require a significant number of water quality tests to check and confirm the quality of the drinking water delivered to the public. Test results on thousands of water samples taken during 2009 indicate that the Town of Andover drinking water meets or exceeds state and federal standards for safe drinking water.
The Andover Water Division was named 2009 Utility of the Year by the New England Water Works Association, a Massachusetts based not for profit organization of water works professionals. The award recognized the Town of Andover and the Andover Water Division for making significant improvements to its water system and for providing outstanding customer service, staff training and operations to protect the quality of the water and the public health of its customers.
The Andover Water Treatment Plant is a state of the art water treatment facility that has been a leader in the treatment and purification of drinking water in New England.
The Andover Water Treatment Plant was one of the first in Massachusetts to implement an ozone treatment system to improve disinfection and enhance the filtration process. The original ozone system was upgraded in 2005 with latest available ozone equipment to further improve the water treatment process and efficiency. The Andover plant is one of only a handful of treatment facilities in Massachusetts utilizing ozone.
In 2008 the Andover Water Treatment Plant filtration system was also enhanced with the construction of two additional filter units and the complete rehabilitation of the six existing filtration units. The additional filtration units provide the facility with improved purification capability and redundancy.
Reginald S. Stapczynski
Town Manager
