Acetone-Tainted Water: No Explanation Yet

A high level of acetone found in the water of a Springs house has prompted the Suffolk Health Department to test the water of five neighboring houses as well as the Springs School, Barnes Country Store, and Kromer's Auto and Marine.

Results of the samples are incomplete, said Paul Ponturo of the County Department of Health Services' Water Division. However, initial testing found a level of 3,300 parts per billion of acetone in the water at David and Jane Barton's Fireplace Road residence.

The state standard for drinking water is 50 parts per billion. Levels in the neighboring locations were all beneath that figure.

Springs School Okay

All the houses in the triangle formed by Sand Lot Road, School Street, and its intersection with Fireplace Road were tested, Mr. Ponturo said, adding that the county plans to take samples in a "couple of additional homes."

Complete test results are expected next month.

The Springs School has been on a regular testing schedule since a routine water test several years ago, following the construction of an addition, revealed the presence of heavy metals.

Since then, the water has been acceptable, according to the Health Department, and last year the school installed a Ph-reduction system that will prevent acidic water from eating away at pipes. Periodic testing of the Kromer's Auto property is also conducted.

Source A Mystery

Mr. Barton said he ordered tests by both a private lab and the County Health Department after noticing an odor coming from his water several months ago.

The water was potable when the couple bought the house four years ago, though they installed a filtration system because of relatively high levels of iron, manganese, and sulfur.

The high levels of acetone were a shock, said Mr. Barton, who could think of no way his well had become so highly contaminated. "I would have to be out there with a 50-gallon drum ladling it into my well," he said. "It stinks . . . there's a sheen to the water when you put it out."

A 'Limited Plume'?

The Bartons have been drinking bottled water and showering at friends' residences.

"The absence of detection in terms of immediate neighbors suggests it's a limited plume," Mr. Ponturo said last week.

The Health Department's pollution control office has been notified, he said, though neither that department nor the State Department of Environmental Conservation has begun investigating the source.

Groundwater in the area, Mr. Ponturo said, flows in a north-northeasterly direction, toward Accabonac Harbor.

Health Department and D.E.C. consultants were reluctant to speculate about whether further pollution would show up, saying a number of variables could affect the chemical's behavior.

Triangle Tested

Acetone, a member of the ketone chemical family, has a "high solubility in water," said Bob Stone, an environmental engineer with the D.E.C.'s hazardous waste remediation group.

It "moves with the groundwater, probably at the same speed," he said.

Mr. Barton expressed frustration with the situation, particularly with the County Health Department, which he called "bumbling."

"We feel the Health Department was motivated to move when they thought it could possibly be other homes besides just ours," he said.

The county initially recommended that the Bartons install a $2,300 carbon filtration system, but later rescinded the recommendation. "They said it was 'erroneous' and would cost more than $500 a month for carbon," Mr. Barton said.

"Acetone may be quite difficult to filter or remove," Mr. Ponturo said. The department has now recommended that the Bartons dig a new well on their less than one-quarter-acre property, "on a spot with the lowest levels of acetone."

Samples taken from test wells should be tested, they were told - a six-week process.

"No one is really telling us anything, and no one seems too concerned," said Mr. Barton.