Conversion to a new system for disinfecting the drinking water for most of Montgomery County went "as smooth as silk" on Monday, said Jerry Higgins, superintendent of the Blacksburg Christiansburg VPI Water Authority.

The new system, called chloramination, mixes ammonia with chlorinated water, which creates substances called chloramines. The chloramines stay in the water longer than chlorine, making it safe from bacteria over a longer time.

Higgins said he heard from only one resident concerned about the new system on Monday. Her doctor had told her to drink only bottled or well water because she suffers from several health problems.

"I told her the best water you can drink comes out of the tap" because it is continuously tested and monitored by the authority and the Virginia Department of Health, Higgins said.

Neither bottled nor well water are subjected to such close scrutiny.

About 30 percent of water works across the country, including several in Virginia, chloraminate their water without any detectable problems. But two municipalities -- Washington, D.C., and Greenville, N.C. -- have recently found high levels of lead after switching to chloramination.

To head off any problems, Higgins hired Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards to help design an elaborate testing scheme to find and fix any lead problems.

Some residents, including operators of kidney dialysis machines and keepers of fish tanks and ponds, should remove the chloramines through special filtering or treatment before use.

The authority spent about $250,000 to implement the new system. But water customers won't see any short-term increases in their water bills, Higgins said.

More information is available online at www.h2o4u.org or by calling the authority at 639-2575.