Water Emergency in Mahopac

BREWSTER, NY—On Thursday, with the Chateau Ridge well water system in Mahopac barely functioning and with no hope of immediate repair, Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell authorized an emergency delivery of 6,000 gallons of water to the water storage tanks for Chateau Ridge.

A public health emergency was in the making. according to Interim Health Commissioner Michael Nesheiwat, MD.

"This week all thirteen water districts serviced by Forest Park Water Company had been put on water conservation restrictions until further notice in order to avert a potential major water outage," Nesheiwat said in a press statement. "Up until now, only some districts and their residents have had to contend with water shortages, resulting from the various problems with the water systems.”

On Thursday, one of the two wells at the Chateau Ridge water supply stopped producing water.

Forest Park Water Company could not arrange for repair because their payment could not be guaranteed, causing an emergency situation.

When the functioning well could not keep up with demand, Mr. Cody Barticciotto, from CEMCO, the current water supply operator, put in overtime, county officials said.

According to residents, Barticciotto spent two nights at the Chateau Ridge pump house trying to maintain the system.

“With this health emergency, we needed a short-term and a long-term solution,” said Odell. “We needed water out there immediately and we got it there in a matter of hours. I have further called upon our law department, and with the assistance of Senator Terrance Murphy, we have reached out to the New York State Public Service Commission to help expedite the sale of Forest Park Water Company that has allowed this unacceptable situation.”

The sale to United Water Company is currently slated to take place in September.

Additionally Henry Boyd, of Henry Boyd Well Drillers, stepped in at the request of the health department, to provide an emergency repair without knowing when payment would be made.

As of early Friday afternoon, workers from Boyd Well Drillers had replaced the well pump and removed one bad section of line of the broken well. Currently this well is producing 60 gallons a minute.

As of 3 p.m., both wells are functioning and the system is back on line, county officials said.

Nesheiwat said that from a safety perspective, the water quality has been fine.

Caption: Roger Mills (left) and Adam Yarrish from Boyd Well Drillers shown repairing well at Chateau Ridge in Mahopac/contributed