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W E D N E S D A Y
There are plenty of reasons to be apprehensive about D.C.’s water supply. While the Potomac River’s water is relatively good, the reservoir’s infrastructure is outdated, and its operation is hampered by the overlapping jurisdictions of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Public Works, and a few layers of the Environmental Protection Agency. Cryptosporidium and fecal coliform contamination go unnoticed until we havecitywide boil alerts, and our water has higher levels of carcinogenic byproducts of chlorine like chloroform and other trihalomethanes than allowed by law. In a presentation called “D.C. Water: Sources, Quality, Uses,” Dr. James O’Connor, a UDC associate professor of geoscience, will tell you about the stuff that comes out of your tap, and what can be done to improve it. At 6 p.m. at the University of the District of Columbia, Bldg. 44, Room 205, 4200 Connecticut Ave. NW. FREE. (202) 452-7416. (Clara Jeffery)