Water and public health officials said Tuesday night that they believe a main flushing program will work to reduce the levels of manganese in Madison's water supply.

At a meeting between the Madison-Dane County Board of Health and the Board of Water Commissioners, water utility general manager David Denig-Chakroff and public health director Dr. Thomas Schlenker showed manganese levels before and after flushing several mains. Manganese levels in all the example flushes were significantly reduced, often to below a tenth of their previous levels.

Furthermore, Denig-Chakroff and Schlenker said, only two out of around 300 taps in the well No. 3 and well No. 10 areas that were sampled recently for a water utility study showed levels of manganese that were higher than the Environmental Protection Agency's health advisory level. Several more showed levels above the "aesthetic level," where laundry and bathroom fixtures might become discolored.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said he thought the early results of the flushing program showed that it seemed to be working to reduce manganese.

He added that he hoped showing the data to the public would ease fears about water quality.

"I do believe that there is a level of concern about the water that is perhaps unjustified by the facts," Cieslewicz said.

Water board Vice President Jon Standridge said that Schlenker and Denig-Chakroff's report had allayed some of his concerns.

"You've convinced me that this is more of an aesthetic problem than a health problem," Standridge said to Schlenker.

The boards agreed to put out a joint statement saying that they supported the water utility's plan and decided to hold another joint meeting in the fall.