ALTAMONT — The village of Altamont recently notified water customers that their drinking water contained higher-than-allowable levels of manganese. 

The notice to customers stated, “Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this is not an emergency, as our customers you have a right to know what happened .…”

The letter states there is nothing customers have to do to their water.

“You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions,” the notice states, but it does say if customers have specific health concerns they should consult a doctor.  

The notice goes on to say, “If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at an increased risk and should seek advice from your health care providers about drinking this water.”

The maximum contaminant level allowed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency is 0.3 milligrams per liter; the rate is what the agency considers a safe level of lifetime exposure to manganese in drinking water.

For three days in October — the 12th, 13th, and 18th — manganese levels were at or above the allowable level for Altamont’s municipal water customers. 

The levels had gotten above the allowable limit, according to the letter, “Due to the lack of rain we have received in the last several weeks/months,” which caused the village to supplement “our primary source water with water from an additional well,” on Brandle Road. 

The village first shut down the Brandle Road wellsite in 2022; when operating, it produces about a third of Altamont’s drinking water supply, but has largely been closed save for periods of peak usage, at which point the Brandle Road supply gets mixed into the village’s other water supply, from Gun Club Road. 

But there is a potential solution to the issue.

In October, engineer Rich Straut, who is also the mayor of neighboring Voorheesville, recommended that Altamont study the introduction of potassium ferrate into the drinking water at the Brandle Road site.

In October 2023, trustees approved $20,000 to study the efficacy of introducing potassium ferrate into the water supply, which could potentially solve the manganese issue. 

“We found out that it was very effective,” Straut said at the time. 

The issue a year ago was the company that made the potassium ferrate could not produce the potential solution on a commercial level, which no longer appears to be the case. 

The letter to customers states that the board of trustees in October “received word confirming that the potassium ferrate treatment would be available for the Village,” and that Straut or someone from his firm “will return to the December Village Board meeting to update the board on costs and next step.”