Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore wanted to put tap water concerns to rest at a fiscal court meeting on Tuesday.
Concern around water safety comes just weeks after a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio where toxic chemicals were released into the air and eventually waterways.
“While it’s a substantial distance to the north, the water that comes out of East Palestine eventually gets to us,” Moore said. “I have full confidence. I drink it. I live on it. The water is OK,”
Moore explained that Boone County government, the Boone County Water District, city of Florence and the Florence Water entered a 30-year agreement to jointly buy water from the city of Cincinnati.
Last week as a precaution, Cincinnati Waterworks closed the intake valves from the Ohio River.
“Even though they were continuing to test the if the quality of the water was appropriate for drinking, and it was, they used intake from an aquifer and a couple other sources for several days,” Moore said.
When chemicals, such as lead or other substances, are present in water, they are measured by parts per billion. Test results showed water from the river contained minimal levels of chemicals being dispersed into it at fewer than 1.0 parts per billion.
The valves from the Ohio River were reopened earlier this week.