Unconvinced the potential cost of filtration is more efficient than alternative solutions, the Naples Selectboard has asked for more uranium tests on water used in municipal buildings.

The request came Monday evening at the selectmen’s meeting after Naples Town Manager Derik Goodine reviewed the specifics of filtration systems that could cost the town more than $22,000.

Dan Cote, owner of Aqua-Max of Maine, a Lewiston company that has proposed to install systems that would filter uranium from water serving the fire station, municipal offices and other buildings on the Naples Village Green, was also on hand to explain what his company could offer.

Two systems utilizing resin media to hold uranium particles while water passes through would be installed. One, filtering 10 gallons per minute, would serve the fire station at an initial cost of more than $4,000.

The other, filtering 25 gallons per minute, would serve the remaining buildings at an initial cost of more than $18,000. Voter approval at a special town meeting is needed before anything is installed.

“We are here to protect the public from uranium, but also to protect taxpayers,” said Selectman Rick Paraschak, who also noted the fire department is already using bottled water and is unconvinced the amount of well water normally consumed justifies the expense of the filtration system.

Paraschak also asked for more tests after learning from Andy Madura, who supervises maintenance for SAD 61, that tests on school district water sources sometimes showed variances in the amount of uranium.

Paraschak and Robert Caron urged Goodine to run water for perhaps 12 hours at the affected buildings and then have a test performed. After a couple of weeks, the water would be tested again without flushing the system to see how the uranium accumulates.

Uranium is a naturally occurring element that can leach into water through the disintegration of rocks. While not radioactive, uranium is a heavy metal that can cause kidney damage and cancer after years of consumption.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has determined 30 parts per billion of uranium in a liter of water to be the safe standard, based on the idea that an average person could drink two liters of that water a day for 70 years without endangering their health.

Goodine said two tests performed at the Naples Town Office showed levels of 60 parts per billion and then 40 parts per billion. The tests were performed by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services in the spring after the town applied to allow the operation a before- and after-school program for area children in the town hall.

After the first test results, Goodine also asked for testing of other municipal water sources, which led to the discovery of elevated uranium levels at the fire station.

Elevated uranium levels are not uncommon to the area. As the town decides how to best address water usage at municipal sources, SAD 61 has already approved the installation of a filtration system at Songo Locks Elementary School in Naples.

That system will be installed to filter water that repeatedly showed levels of uranium more than three times higher than the federal safety standard, although the school is exempt from federal mandates because it is not fully used throughout the year.

Because it has a public drinking water supply, the town is required to install a filtration system or prohibit access to the water in the affected buildings. The order comes from the state, which administers the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

Cote said Aqua-Max would guarantee five years of use in the initial tanks installed, with testing that could be done every three, six or nine months. Solmetix, a Massachusetts company that would supply the filtration system, would also test the water. He added it was possible the lead tank could last up to nine years before needing replacement.

The difference in the system proposed for town buildings as opposed to the one for Songo Locks Elementary School, which will be installed by Air & Water Quality Inc. of Freeport, is that filtration tanks will be removed each year at the school. Madura is also licensed by the state to monitor the water quality there.

Aside from further tests, selectmen also discussed alternative methods to filtration involving installing bottled water supplies and hand washing dispensers that do not need water.