VOX IN THE BOX

Dear Vox in the Box: Why does Hanover's tap water look yellow, smell bad and taste like fish? Thirsty Student

Dear Thirsty, Students in professor Bill Roebuck's Environmental Studies 50 class recently studied Hanover's 180-year-old water system. They found that minerals (including lead, copper and manganese) and organic substances (including bacteria, algae and fungi) cause afoul odor when they react with the chlorine dioxide the water company uses to treat the water. Acid rain corrodes the system's old cast-iron pipes, adding a metallic taste. The class recommended that Hanover Water Works install new pipes and a filtration system—expensive fixes. A filtration station alone costs more than $15 million. "There are odor and taste concerns," admits Michael Blayney, vice president of the water company and director of the College's Office of Environmental Health & Safety. "We know what improvements need to be made. Now it's just a matter of finding the best way of going about them." But don't fear, he says. Hanover's smelly water is safe to drink.

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Bragging Rites Smart Money One of the largest grants in the College's history $15 million overfive years has been awarded to a group of Dartmouth scientists by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.The money will fund several projects examining the effects of toxic metals on human health.