LOUVIERS, Colo. — The village of Louviers, located less than five miles from downtown Sedalia, has regained its state water certification after years of elevated radium levels in its water supply.
The small community of 104 houses began facing water supply issues in 2020, when testing revealed radium levels above the legal limit.
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"We got the notice from the state, because we were being tested. Hey, your radium level is 7.65 picocuries. We got to be under five," explained Treasurer of the Louviers Water and Sanitation Board Rebecca Connet.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says drinking high levels of radium for too long can increase the risk of cancer and that the problem cannot be fixed by boiling water. Residents were told they needed either a reverse osmosis system or to bring in water.
The cost of a long-term fix was significant.
"It was 5 million," Connet said. "The biggest concern in this town is we do have fixed incomes. We are trying our best to minimize the expenses to the homes here and to the people."
Over the last several years, with the help of grant funding from the county and state, the village drilled a new well, updated old infrastructure and started taking steps to be more proactive in the future.
"If we don't have water, we don't have homes," Connett, who lives in Louviers, said.
In late April, Louviers regained its state certification, getting radium levels back below the maximum allowable amount. Customers will see higher water bills going forward, including an added fee to help fund future needs.
"We put on, like, a $8 fee on everybody's water bill, just to say, hey, look, you know, this is just for the future we're planning," Connet said.
For residents like Marla Gifford, who has called the area home for 21 years, the investment is worth it.
"It's very, very important that we pull together on water and things like that. We don't really need Dominion's water now. We have our own water and new lines, and it was all because of a grant. So that's going to be that's going to be good for quite a while," Gifford said.
Gifford described what makes the community worth fighting for.
"We have people who come up here, and they'll sit and watch the sunset," she said. "Our little town is very, very important to us."
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