Living with North Havre water

Some people in North Havre will go to a lot of trouble to get a glass of water. Some will go to the grocery store, and some will send as far away as Great Falls.

"I never drank this to start with," said Ed Dobrenz, who started renting a house in the unincorporated community in the mid-1990s.

Dobrenz said that when he first moved in, he bought his own drinking water and used the well water at his house only for cleaning and irrigation. About a year or so ago, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway began providing water for some residents in North Havre, and now Dobrenz drinks that.

The water, whi...