Dirty Water.

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Dirty water



I've been under increasing urging from my siblings and friends to start drinking bottled water. No particular brand, just anything but Camden city water. Recently, I performed a kind of taste test of my own, as I've been a loyal drinker of Camden water all of my 55 years.

I placed two wine glasses on the kitchen table and filled one with tap water and the other with a leading brand of bottled spring water. I swished both glasses around to better examine their clarity (or lack thereof) and their individual bouquets.

As the spring water wafted through my nostrils, it brought to mind distant mountain waterfalls and cool, dewy mornings in Maine or someplace like that.

I then sniffed cautiously at my Camden water and hog troughs immediately came to mind. It also smelled curiously like that sewerage facility up on Ferry Avenue. Many city residents will know which one I mean. And what the heck was that stuff floating around in the water?

Next came the taste test. There was no doubt left in my mind that I would no longer drink water from my Camden tap.

I called City Hall and reported this problem and they assured me they already knew and were taking steps to remedy the situation. But isn't that their answer for everything? Haven't I heard those words before?

Let's face it folks, we are on our own. If anything is to be done about crime, health care, the elderly, our children's education or the sorry state of our water supply, we are going to have to do it ourselves.

How? Encourage everyone you know to register to vote and follow through by voting in every election no matter what the issue is. I don't need to tell you which party to vote for because we already know which party is against us and has been for many, many years.

We can change things in Camden. We must and we will.

JAMES E. MURRELL JR. Camden
Published: July 03. 2006 3:10AM