The Toby water plant is only 20 years old, but officials say it needs new membranes and that could be costly  for a water system with few customers.

We have more on two options that supervisors are now considering.

Residents we talked to are split on whether they want to stick with the emergency water system that they are currently hooked up to. The switch from the regular system was made after giardia was found in a water sample.

Since December 2014, Fox Township employees say about 160 Toby water accounts have been on an emergency interconnect to St. Marys using an existing pipe meant for droughts.

“They told everybody not to drink the water, to boil the water before they used it,” says customer Bernard Loney, remebering the boil order in 2014.

“The older type membranes have reached the end of their service life. It wasn’t effectively removing it, maybe. And with that being said, giardia is a naturally occurring thing you’ll probably find in raw water,” says water plant operator Rob Singer.

Customer Barb Hepler said she’s noticed the water now tastes like chlorine.

“The St. Marys water I do not like,” says Hepler.

“St. Marys water is good drinking water!” says Loney.

Supervisor Randy Gradizzi says they’re considering re-doing the 1995 plant and the Lost Run Reservoir too.

“It’s two-part. You would have to install some type of filtration system at the plant for the water, but the feasibility study did show that the old reservoir in dry times didn’t have sufficient water,” says Singer.

Even after a study was done, the cost is still unknown. If it’s too expensive, they could make the St. Marys water permanent, Gradizzi said.

Singer says the rest of the township uses St. Marys water now, and it’s costing them $3.62 per 1,000 gallons to get it sent to the Toby system.

“I always drink bottled water, I never drink tap water… because I think the bottled water tastes better,” says Hepler.

Loney says he used to use a filter, and worries about a nearby landfill. Singer says it’s over a hill and not a factor.

“If it’s going to put bacteria in the water, I would just like to stay on the St. Marys water,” says Loney.

“I think they ought to start getting better water,” says Hepler.

It could take a few years to build a new system. Meantime, an option to drill test wells underground was rejected by supervisors as too risky.