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Water SjtsMms 8arinsr <br />to S srve Morton colanly <br />By Sheyna Strommen for LoAnn's Marketing, Inc. <br />W ai n or shine, sleet or snow, John Miller drives every <br />orning for his family's drinking water to a pasture <br />one - and -a -half miles away. This is a daily routine and has <br />become a way of life for the Millers. He and his wife, Lor- <br />raine, live on a farm in southern Morton County. <br />ar <br />"We had our tap water tested and the results <br />revealed that it is unfit for human consumption, <br />so we started hauling our drinking water from <br />the well in the pasture. It isn't too bad, I guess," <br />Miller says. <br />Like many in Morton County and throughout <br />the southwest portion of North Dakota, the Mill- <br />ers' well produces poor quality, highly corrosive <br />water that is filled with rust. Water containing <br />damaging minerals such as rust destroys appli- <br />ances and fixtures and makes the water unfit for <br />domestic uses such as cooking, cleaning, and <br />drinking. "So, every day, we have to haul our <br />water for drinking and cooking," says Lorraine <br />Miller. <br />Not only do the Millers have to haul water, <br />they have to haul their laundry — 22 miles to their <br />daughter's house, each and every week. For fami- <br />lies like theirs who are affected by an unreliable, <br />poor quality source of water, this is a way life. <br />The Millers considered digging another well, <br />however, when the cost totaled $10,000 they <br />chose instead to sign up for the pipeline. <br />"There are no guarantees when <br />j drilling a well," Miller says, "and <br />1 there's always the chance you <br />will hit the same vein, and <br />again, have bad water." <br />Morton County is <br />one of 12 coun- <br />ties included in <br />the Southwest <br />-.� Pipeline Project ;,� <br />(SWPP). Al- M <br />thqugh Morton <br />County pockets <br />will be con- <br />structed by the <br />