SEBRING, Ohio - The Village of Sebring is hiring Don Alpeter of Paris, Ohio as the acting supervisor for the Sebring Water Treatment Plant.
Alpeter will act as an interim supervisor as the EPA continues their criminal investigation into supervisor Jim Bates, who is currently on unpaid administrative leave.

Alpeter is an independent contractor a class 3 license to operate the plant and will be the acting supervisor for the next 45 days.

On Tuesday, Don Alpeter and Sebring officials met with the EPA to develop a plan to put polyphosphate into the water system.
the chemical will coat the pipes and reduce the chances of lead leaching into the water.

But before polyphosphate is put in the water the EPA plans to sample water with random testing.
This could take up to two weeks according to the Ohio EPA's Heidi Greismer.
Additionally, Ohio EPA invited technical experts from U.S. EPA to Sebring earlier this week to help the village's consulting engineer make additional treatment adjustments to reduce corrosion in lead pipes of older homes.

Once the polyphosphate is introduced, the system will be purged to get rid of the old water.
The process of purging usually takes 45 days, but could take half the time.

Members of the community say while they still have questions, they're open to a plan for the water.

"If it works... good. Only time will tell if it actually works or we'll be right back at square one," said Sebring resident Allyson Edie

In the meantime residents continue to test their water with personal kits.
The Ohio EPA says out of the 259 water samples collected in Sebring since January 21,2016 nine had levels above the federal allowance levels.