Dupuyer is a small community, where in many ways, not much has changed over its long history.

What has changed over the years is the understanding of water quality and how it can impact people’s welfare.

There will be A public meeting on Aug. 17, 7 p.m. in the Dupuyer Community Hall to discuss water issues.

Having no public water or sewer system, the community relies on individual drinking water wells and on septic tank style sewage disposal systems.

The wells and septic systems typically are located on the same property. Many of the land parcels are very small creating a situation where the water supply and the sewage disposal are very close together. In come cases a neighbor’s sewage disposal may be nearby another person’s water well.

Since the community has changed little over the years, why would there be a water quality concern today?

Water quality can impact the health in two ways, chronically and acutely.

The difference is the chronic problems are slowly accumulating and you may not see the health impact for years or possibly decades.

Acute problems will be more immediately seen in a matter of days or weeks. If water quality problems are sporadic, people can become ill from acute conditions and they don’t necessarily know the cause. It may be attributed to the flu or to food poisoning.

Another important factor to consider is that not every person has the same tolerance for certain types of water quality problems.

For instance, the EPA sets a standard of 10mg/L for nitrate in any drinking water. Adults may be able to withstand levels that are higher but young children may die from levels above 10.

Corrine Rose is the Pondera County Sanitarian. She recently stated that she was, “very concerned about the water quality in the community.”

Most septic systems are very old and don’t provide as good of treatment as a newly designed septic system would. Some of the old tanks were constructed of metal that are likely leaking untreated sewage.

Another problem is the issue of age and depth of local water wells.

Many of the wells are 50 or more years old and at least one was installed prior to 1900. Well casings commonly corrode over time, making it easier for surface water to flow into the well following a rainstorm. Surface water commonly carries contaminants that are known to be harmful to human health.

The concerns about water quality and the small size of the land parcels in the community also make it very difficult if not impossible for new homes to be constructed in the community. Multiple parcels must be combined to make a large enough area for a single new home to be built.

In some cases that is not possible. What this all means to local real estate values is that land is significantly devalued and in some cases may have little or no value.

Many state and federal programs ae available that provide grant funds to small communities to study these types of problems and present alternative solutions.

However, the money is only available to incorporated communities or water and sewer districts.

Dupuyer does not currently fall into either of these categories. An attempt was made a few years ago to form a water and sewer district but failed to gain enough support to allow formation. Grant funds for studies typically require a 50-50 match from a community.

If a study identifies a solution that involves building a community water or sewer system more significant grant funding can be available. In the past other small communities have been able to obtain greater than 90 percent grant funding to build the system.

Most grant sources do require some commitment by local communities and set target user rates that are proportional to the household incomes. Target rates for water systems range from about $9 per month for the poorest communities up to about $70 per month for others.

These issues are likely to be a topic of discussion for local community members.