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The Panorama School District is offering support to Bagley residents currently under a health advisory due to high levels of manganese in the City’s water supply.

This week Panorama announced that the secondary building in Panora is available from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays for Bagley residents to fill water containers at no charge. This comes after the Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued a public notice March 1st that Bagley’s water tested at 1.4 mg/L for manganese, higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s health advisory levels of .3 mg for infants and 1 mg for adults.

Panorama Superintendent Shawn Holloway says the District doesn’t take the situation lightly, “We just want to be able to try to support our communities in any way we can, and so if that means allowing residents to come in and fill up water containers, then we wanted to be able to do that. So we felt like just part of our community outreach and community service that we’ve really tried to do the last few years, it just kind of tied right into it and I thought the Board was very much in favor of doing that.”

The DNR recommends Bagley residents use bottled water or an alternative water source for drinking, though tap water can still be used for bathing, brushing teeth, and washing clothes and dishes. The City is working with JEO Consulting and Region XII Council of Governments to secure funding to build a water treatment facility in the near future. Those who have questions about getting water at Panorama can call 641-755-4144.