Tests: Stream water much better

March 7, 2008 at 1:10a.m.

With a new sewer system installed, stream water is cleaner.

YOUNGSTOWN — Recent tests have shown a dramatic improvement in stream water quality due to installation of the Damascus sewage collection and treatment system, according to the Mahoning County sanitary engineer.

At one location along state Route 534, county health department testing in January 2008 showed bacteria levels along an unidentified tributary of Little Beaver Creek were more than 1,000 times lower than in September and October of 1998, according to figures presented Thursday to the Mahoning County Commissioners by Joseph Warino, sanitary engineer.

Based on the 1998 results, the county health board declared a public health nuisance in Damascus.

This year’s testing showed no bacteria counts above the state’s limit, Warino said Thursday.

The $2.5 million sanitary sewer system, paid for by state and county funds, was installed in 2005 to serve about 230 homes and businesses in Mahoning and Columbiana counties. Located between Salem and Sebring, Damascus is an unincorporated community along U.S. Route 62, which forms the boundary between the counties. About 180 customers are already connected to the new system.

Area residents who haven’t yet connected to the sewer system continue to use their private septic systems, Warino said. Those within 200 feet of a sewer line are required by law to connect to it, he said.

Noting that bacteria grow faster in warmer water, Wes Vins, director of waste water programs for the Mahoning County health board, said the board plans to test for bacteria in the stream when the water is warmer later this year.

Concerning another matter, the commissioners approved Thursday an agreement with the state’s Office of Information Technology to receive $156,160 in state funds to enable the county to join the state’s location-based emergency response system.

The electronic system will allow the state’s emergency responders or those from another county to pinpoint the exact location of a Mahoning County emergency scene to which they might be responding, said Maggi McGee, county 911 director. “They will be able to come in and know exactly where to go on our grid in Mahoning County,” she said.

The system will work in conjunction with a local global positioning system now under development, which will allow dispatchers to pinpoint to within a few feet the origin of cellular telephone calls to 911 early next year, McGee said.

Currently, the dispatchers can trace the calls to the cell phone tower nearest to the caller, she said. “The degree of accuracy will come in stages as the project progresses,” she said.

Pinpointing the origin of the calls is especially helpful when callers can’t precisely identify the location of the emergency to the dispatcher, she said. Ninety percent of calls to 911 now come from cellular phones, McGee said.