In Rutland, voters said no to a $5.5 million water filtration system to help the city meet EPA drinking water standards.
City residents were closely divided on the issue because the less costly alternative meant adding chloramine to their water, which some people worry poses health risks.
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras says the good news is that the city may not have to make any changes to its water system because levels of acids in the water are dropping.
Louras says the level of acids in Rutland’s water has been declining, and now falls well within EPA levels.
"We made some changes to their water filtration plant. That potentially coupled with the scouring of the brooks that give us our surface water – because of Irene – may have cleaned out all of the organic matter in the streams. But right now the bottom line is we are meeting the EPA standard right now – it’s still trending down."
The mayor says the item was in front of voters because had the city’s water quality not met EPA standards, the city would have needed an improvement plan.