If the Orange County Department of Health says it’s okay, the Highland Falls Village Board will move ahead with a plan to add phosphate to the community’s drinking water as it leaves the Highland Falls Water Plant.

The board unanimously approved spending about $5000 for a year of treating the water with the “very common” treatment, which, they hope, will help clear up some of the brown water complaints they frequently receive.

A representative of Aqua Smart (aquasmartinc.com) was at the November 2 meeting of the board and provided, for the board and audience, a demonstration of how phosphate (which is a naturally occurring substance) can help break apart the bonded-together iron and chlorine in the municipal water supply, therefore removing the discoloration. (The demonstration can be viewed on the video of the meeting, which is located on the village website (highlandfallsny.gov).

Dale Post, who runs the water plant for VRI Environmental, was on hand to confirm that the treatment is one used in other area municipal water treatment plants. He explained the testing process that village water undergoes, as well as the Department of Health’s role in what goes into the water.

The technology is not new, the AquaSmart representative said, with Post confirming. It is very common, from Maryland to Maine, where older water systems face the discoloration of water as iron builds up in the pipes and interacts with the added chlorine.

There were several questions from the audience, including if it is safe. It was noted that even bottles of Coke have phosphate in them, at a much higher level than would be added to the water.

An added benefit of the program was that it could – “slowly” - help break down some of the scaling inside the pipes, giving a better overall water flow to the water supply.

The vote to move ahead was contingent upon the Department of Health approval, Mayor Jim DiSalvo said. The motion adopted stipulated the village wouldn’t spent more than $5000 on the project. They directed Post to begin working with the Department of Health on the matter.

Trustee Aleena Olivia settled some of the concerns saying that while she is not typically a fan of adding anything to the water system, she “was impressed” with the demonstrations from AquaSmart and said it is worth trying.