Carbon explores water solutions at animal shelter

The water issue at the dog shelter is turning out to be a little bit more expensive to repair than Carbon County officials hoped.

But, the employees and dogs at the shelter have a supplemental water source to meet all their needs until the problem is resolved.

On Thursday, the county commissioners provided an update on the cause of the discolored water at the shelter.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the water tested showed iron present in the water.

Because of this, a DEP-approved water tanker has been brought in to pump water to the shelter for use. Until the tanker was brought in, water was being supplied through the county Emergency Management Agency, as well as shelter employees bringing in water and residents dropping off bottles of water for the animals.

Nothstein said that the problem will take a little longer to resolve than hoped. Options include cleaning the artesian well, purchasing equipment to remove the iron from the water supply and drilling the current well deeper to clean water, which could cost upward of $50,000 or more.

There is also an option of drilling a new well if a suitable location can be found.

He added that the county is hoping to have a proposal from a hydrogeologist next week with options.

The problem is only affecting the shelter, Nothstein said, but said the solution may be able to allow the county to create a backup system to the prison and EMA.

Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said that the shelter dogs are receiving the excellent care they always do from the employees.

He explained that Tom Connors, director at the shelter, first noticed the problem with the water on July 14 and contacted him.

The next day, Moyer Well Drilling was contacted and began to investigate the cause of the water problem.

“At no time were we without water,” Gerhard said.

He also outlined all the progress the shelter has made in recent years with renovations to make the dogs as comfortable as possible, including adding air conditioning to the shelter, ventilating the kennel area, installing new gates on the kennels, putting in tile flooring and new LED lighting, purchasing a commercial grade washing machine, renovating the bathrooms, painting the kennel floor area and adding a new dumpster.