A new pipe is going to be installed to reroute water containing nitrates away from Owensville's drinking water supply.
According to Owensville Clerk-Treasurer Kristy York, the 110-foot-long pipeline will take standing water from a field and deliver it to a ditch where it will be directed off of the state's property. York did not specify where the water would eventually lead.
York says that President Dan Knautzman requested at a recent Owensville Town Council meeting that the town employees put the pipeline on their schedule as soon as possible. Even though the standing water does not pose an immediate threat to the water supply in Owensville, it is part of an ongoing battle with nitrate pollution in the water supply.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management set the maximum number of nitrates allowable in a drinking water source at 10 mg per litre. Water with nitrates higher than that level could cause negative health effects especially in infants.
Nitrates are often found to contaminate water through runoff from fertilizer, septic tanks, and erosion.
In October, Owensville considered shutting down two wells due to high nitrate levels.