Last open-air water reservoirs in Baltimore covered - Baltimore Sun

Last open-air water reservoirs in Baltimore covered

The last open-air water reservoirs in Baltimore have been covered.

Drinking water at Lake Ashburton and Druid Lake previously exposed to both the elements and microscopic danger are now in protected tanks, the city department of public works said Thursday..

The illness-inducing parasite cryptosporidium was detected in the water at Druid Lake Reservoir in September, prompting state officials to issue a boiled water advisory.

“The Ashburton and Druid Lake reservoirs are an integral part of Baltimore’s water system,” Baltimore City Department of Public Works Interim Director Richard J. Luna said in a news release. “The successful completion of these underground tank projects, which have been in the works for nearly six years, adds a higher level of protection to the Baltimore region’s water supply.”

Weekly tests of the Druid Lake drinking water since the discovery of the chlorine-resistant parasite in September all returned negative, the department said in a news release. Water from Druid Lake Reservoir reaches an area that stretches northwest from Elkridge in Howard County toward Arbutus, cuts through the middle of Baltimore City and includes a large section of Baltimore County north of the city in Parkville, Towson and Cockeysville.

Federal regulations require finished drinking water to be covered or receive additional treatment, and the city started construction on Druid Lake in 2017 and on Lake Ashburton in 2018. In May, the EPA ordered Baltimore to finish Ashburton by Nov. 30 and Druid Lake by Dec. 30. Last month, the federal government approved pushing back Ashburton’s deadline a couple of weeks.

Now that the tanks are covered, testing is no longer required, the department said.