Summer’s here, it’s hot and thoughts float inevitably towards the nearest swimming pool. Hence the enormous dismay at the Wawarsing Town Board at their meeting on July 2. Due to a problem with a pump in one of the Village of Ellenville’s primary wells, the water department could not fill the village/town public pool in time for summer camp.

Fred Hart, department head, was frank about the prospects. “I have to ensure that the village supplies drinking water to all residents. That’s my job.” Swimming pools are secondary.

Ways to work around the problem were discussed. The possibility of buying the water from Turco, the local pool water specialists, was discussed. But at $600 per load the total cost would have been a budget-busting $30,000 or more. Besides, this is Turco’s peak season and they are already filling orders all over Ulster County.

Local County Legislator John Gavaris suggested using “trash” pumps to move water up from the Sandberg Creek into mobile settling tanks. “Sock filters” with 5-micron mesh would be in place on the hoses to remove sediment and debris. From those tanks, a big pump would be employed to move the water quickly to the pool. It would be chlorinated along the way to kill any bacteria that might have made it through the filters.

Another scheme involved the local fire companies sending their pumper tankers to go back and forth from the Wawarsing Water District pump station on Institution Road to the pool. The advantage there was that the Wawarsing water is health department-approved and would come via the equipment already up and ready for use in the Steven F. Bradley pump station.

Through July 3 and 4 the issue was debated with Ulster County health department officials and engineers. It became clear that Ulster County would not OK the use of creek water in the pool. The county was also expressing concerns about the potability of water being transported in firetrucks. The root of that concern was the fear of contamination with PFAS, now considered a notorious pollutant. PFAS were used in firefighting foams for decades.

On Friday, July 5, Mike Moschetta, who is both a member of the town board and president of the Ellenville Fire Department, was pulling together a caravan of fire trucks and the volunteers needed to operate them. Many phone calls were made.

Meanwhile, working the phone in another direction, Town Supervisor Terry Houck was talking to the county health people and the engineers.

Key to things, as Moschetta explained to the Shawangunk Journal, is that firstly, PFAS firefighting foam has not been used in years. Secondly, the foam has never been put into the tanks on the firetrucks. Thirdly, all firefighting equipment — tanks, hoses, clothing, hats — is intensively washed clean after every fire call.

And so late Friday night, the county was appeased and gave the go-ahead.

The trucks began to roll on Saturday morning at 7:30. Trucks and volunteers from Ellenville Fire, Napanoch Fire, Cragsmoor Fire and Kerhonkson Fire were all involved. Through Saturday and Sunday more than 100,000 gallons of potable water was moved into the pool. Adding to that, of course, was the flow from the Ellenville Water Department, which though limited, was still valuable.

Moschetta noted that “Ph levels were checked as this was going on by the Wawarsing water guys. And treatment [chlorination] began on Saturday night.”

By Monday morning the pool was close to full and treatment was continuing. Moschetta thought that the pool would be open for use by Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile the Wawarsing Water District is approaching a full opening itself and the pump station will soon be moving water up into the tank that sits above the town highway garage. July 8 was given as the date the water district fully opens.