Ridgewood October 7, 2009 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Graydon remains top issue at village meetings by John Koster Graydon Pool was not on last week’s agenda, but the topic continued to dominate the Ridgewood Village Council’s work session. Residents told the council that adequate chlorination could preserve the sandbottomed, lake-like pool that about half the populace seems to favor, without a $10 million bond to build multiple concrete pools with increased admission fees. “Both groups are fighting for the same thing, and if the water wasn’t treated, there is reason for that,” said Sally Brandes, a resident and regular swimmer at Graydon. “I don’t know how you could allow us to swim in that water – those who complain of health issues might have some real issues!” Brandes, who wants to keep the pool lake-like but with better water quality, cited a report from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that she said had been much mentioned, but never yet quoted in its entirety. She brought a copy of the DEP letter to the work session, paraphrased part of it, and made copies available to the press. The letter, she said, indicated that water treatment had been inadequate during several instances that correlated with visibly poor water quality. She also said Ridgewood park officials had never used the maximum permissible amount of chemicals to deal with water problems. “This analysis clearly shows that the managers of Graydon Pool can more effectively utilize the sodium hypochlorite product allowed to be used to improve water quality for swimming,” wrote DEP’s Wolfgang Skacel in March of 2008. Skacel’s letter was critical of the way the chlorination of Graydon Pool was handled during the 2007 season. “There was little correlation between the dosage rate used and the dosage rate indicated on the label,” Skacel wrote. “It appears that sodium hypochloride was pumped in for a certain period of time at a certain period of pump capacity, without any regard to the amount that was supposed to be used. In some cases the rate was too high, but in many cases it was too low for any effectiveness. On many days no chlorination was done at all. Even though the secchi disk readings indicated a deteriorating water quality…Out of 93 days when the pool was open for swimming, treatments occurred only on 32 days. In some cases there were several days of no treatment even when the secchi disk readings indicated a rapid decrease in water quality.” Skacel cited several instances of multiple days when there were no treatments at all, and Brandes said that these instances correlated with a notable decline in water quality. She added that during last year’s swimming season, the water quality had been good to very good in June and July, but flawed in August due to a broken pump, and that no one could find the technician to (continued on page 14) ������������������������������ ������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ������������������������� ����������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ��������������������������� ����������� ���������������������� Fall specials available now for a limited time only. Call Robin at 973-636-7000 2 Locations Glen Rock & Passaic PASSAIC LOCATION NOW OPEN SUNDAYS! We Offer Line Of Credits And Financing Plans 201.345-5621