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Solving this Problem

Seventeen years ago, I wrote a similar letter about the need to bring clean water to my Guilford neighborhood. I wrote about pervasive well contamination, the lack of fire hydrants, and the choice I faced—paying thousands for clean water or keeping my well and paying an uncertain price in dollars and, potentially, my health.

Since then, the level of nitrates making my well water unsafe to drink has increased. So has the cost of buying bottled water for drinking and cooking and of replacing pipes, plumbing, pumps, and hot water heaters that fail much sooner than they should.

We are so close to solving this problem once and for all, thanks to the support of local and state officials, and the homeowners who have already committed to hooking up to the new public water system. I and my neighbors on Mulberry Point, Tuttles Point, and Long Cove will pay the full cost of this project, but it can’t happen without your readers’ help.

I encourage your readers to vote “Yes” at referendum, tentatively scheduled for May 31, to authorize town officials to secure available grants and a low-interest loan from the state water fund to eliminate the serious health and safety issues existing in our neighborhoods for far too long.

Karen Clarke

Guilford