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Nov 12, 2023

Tupper Lake residents express concerns about water issues

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Wednesday night, roughly 40 Tupper Lake residents shared with selected officials about the water issues they're living with.

For folks like Lori Watson, when she turns on her bathtub faucet, it looks like this.

The water in some areas in Tupper Lake are producing discolored brown water.

Those affected have concerns about drinking and using the water in any capacity.

Many of those Tupper Lake residents said they're constantly going to the store to buy clean drinking water.

One woman said she buys 35 gallons of water each week for $1.39 each. She said she's been doing that for the last five years.

The residents at the public meeting said it's been an issue for a long time, and they aren't satisfied with the progress so far.

Tupper Lake Mayor Paul Maroun said one reason for the discoloring is that after they implemented wells in 2019, iron shifted into them.

The iron has factored into the watercolor change.

He said even though the color isn't right, the Department of Health has told him the water is safe to drink.

Folks at the meeting weren't buying that, though, with multiple people saying they've given the water to their pets, who got extremely sick.

Maroun said he's trying to go back to open-source lake water with a purification plan.

To make that switch, it will cost between $8-10 million.

That's why Mayor Maroun said he's looking for state funding help and is turning to people like New York State Assemblyman Billy Jones.

Jones told NBC5 in a statement:

"New Yorkers voted to add a constitutional amendment to protect our right to clean drinking water, and state agencies need to step up and provide the resources needed to fix this problem so that the burden is not placed on local taxpayers."

Maroun said in the upcoming weeks, he plans on setting up a meeting with Jones and Sen. Dan Stec to discuss how they can receive state funding to improve their water infrastructure needs.

He also would like to get connected with the chairman of the Department of Health.