7-21-10 —     The Monticello Utility Commission has recently had several calls from customers complaining about problems with odor and taste of the water, but utility commission employees have been working hard to combat this problem.

    Gene Jones, system manager for the Monticello Utility Commission, discussed this issue with board members during their regular monthly meeting last Thursday.

    “Due to the turnover of the lake, we have experienced odor and taste problems with our water. The extreme heat combined with less rainfall intensified the problem,” explained Jones.

    Although these factors have created odor and taste problems, Jones emphasized that the water is safe for customers.

    “The water that we send out to our customers is safe for human consumption,” pointed out Jones. “Rest assured that if the water was not safe our customers would be notified.”

    According to Jones, samples are gathered on a regular basis to test the water.

    “We gather a number of samples each week that are tested by a state certified laboratory in Lexington, Ky. Our certified operators have over 60 years of combined experience in dealing with water quality, and are very conscious of their duties. Sometimes a situation will come up that is out of our control and we have to deal with it to the best of our ability. Our employees work hard to deliver safe drinking water to each of our nearly 10,000 customers and will continue to do so in the future,” noted Jones.

    In other action, the board:

    • was informed of a $6,000 savings on the utility commission’s insurance policy. Jones noted that he and some of his staff went over the list of property and equipment to determine what items they no longer had that was still on that list. Removing those items from their insurance policy resulted in a $6,000 savings.

    • heard departmental reports for the month of July.