NEWARK, Md. -- Newark's water treatment plant is more than 40 years old and needs several expensive upgrades. With no federal money coming in, however, neighbors are worried they will end up footing the bill.
On Thursday afternoon, Sylvia Kumer filled a glass of water at her kitchen sink. The results were crystal clear. But it hasn't always been this way for Sylvia and her husband, John.
Their water used to be filled with iron sediment, and it left glasses of water with an orange-brown tint and stained any white clothes that went through the washing machine.
"But we haven't had that occurring this summer, because of the filter," said John Kumer.
He's referring to a filter that Worcester County installed at his home, free of charge, two months ago. Nineteen other people in Newark have also had the filter installed.
So far, Kumer said it's worked.
"We're going to see in the long run, after a couple of years, whether that filter is really going to keep us happy," said Kumer.
With the "long run" in mind, the county is eyeing Newark's water treatment plant upgrades. It won't be cheap, and just two days ago, the folks in Washington delivered a potentially devastating blow, denying a $3.8 million earmark for the project.
The county could pull the money from its general fund, but that cost would then fall on the people of Newark.
"We should've been looking at this a couple decades ago, looking into the funding, when we had the funding," said Jenny Mumford, who sits on the Newark Water and Advisory Board. "And now the excuse is we don't have the funding because federal's not playing game. We could've done this five, ten years ago and not had this problem."
The county is also pursuing USDA funding and tells WBOC it will pursue other grant opportunities, aiming to save Newark taxpayers from any extra costs.