I'd like to have lots more scientific information before we move down a road you can't turn back. But Bill Frechette, EPD's principal geologist, says we've been down that road for quite some time. Because, to save the aquifer, we have to stop using it. Frechette says Chatham County residents have an unrealistic expectation that water's supposed to be cheap and easy to get. Generally speaking, in most areas of the country water is more expensive than in your area.
Sources differ as to just how much more expensive surface water is than aquifer water.
There are lots of small water systems out there. If the aquifer salts out, there's no system in place to provide for all of them. The EPD's Frechette counters that surface water treatment, like every other technology, is constantly advancing and decreasing in price. When you think 'Savannah River,' you get images of dead fish, tritium, and frothy pulp and paper effluent. But there are federal regulations on what can and can't be in drinking water.