This week the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority began its own round of tests of water in the Cape Fear River. In light of what’s been happening with GenX, the utility authority is also working on improving its communication with the public.
When the Star News broke the GenX story wide open three weeks ago, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority was slow to respond. That appears to be changing.
“We want to make sure the public has access to all of that and they can understand what is, and isn’t, in the water.”
That’s Jim Flechtner, Executive Director of CFPUA, after a Monday board meeting.
“We met with our board today to talk about ways we can make our drinking water results more accessible to our customers. We can do that through social media, through making information available on our website, not just for the routine sampling we do, but also for the unique studies we sometimes do with researchers such as Dr. Knappe.”
He’s referring to Dr. Detlef Knappe, a professor at N.C. State University, who initially evaluated the presence of GenX in the Cape Fear River.
Flechtner says he has water specialists currently working on new ways to treat the water that becomes drinking water here, in addition to having launched a round of independent testing of the river.
“The quality of our water is our utmost priority and we are working hard for our customers to make sure we deliver the best quality water we possibly can.”
Jim Flechtner will be one of the panelists at our GenX Forum Wednesday evening at Kenan Auditorium on the UNCW campus, starting at 7 p.m.