When the Butler Area Sewer Authority in 2005 approved pressure testing of lines from homes to public trunk lines in the Deshon and Westwood Manor III areas, few residents were paying attention. Few if any asked questions, and the authority didn't make a point of noting potential problems with that plan.

That was before the authority's troubles with the state Department of Environmental Protection became a crisis, with DEP finally imposing a moratorium on new sewer tap-ins. Many of BASA's customers, including many of those in the Deshon and Westwood Manor III areas, weren't thinking about what might be ahead for them and other BASA customers.

Many customers in the two areas and elsewhere have presumed that whatever BASA would eventually do would be focused on their best interests, both from a service and cost standpoint. But what happened at Tuesday's BASA board meeting might be causing Westmont Manor III and Deshon customers to be thinking — and fearing — otherwise.

Now that the new trunk lines in those areas are in place, it's logical for BASA to want to determine whether homeowners' lines connecting to the new main lines are free of leaks. With the approval for pressure tests already on the books, the stage is set for the testing to begin.

But now some authority members are skeptical about whether BASA should actually use the pressure-testing method rather than videotaping the sewage lines from homes to the main lines to determine whether there are leaks, or using dye testing to determine lines' condition. There is fear that the pressure testing might cause leaks in many lines where no leaks now exist.

That's an important concern.

With so much concern about that possibility, made clear in a debate Tuesday that disintegrated from organized discussion to out-of-order argument, the authority should opt for the less-potential-damage course of action and reject pressure testing.

People, some of whom already might be financially strapped, shouldn't be dealt significant expenses that might not be necessary.

"You know that air testing will guarantee that almost every line will fail. . . ," said board member George Shockey. He clarified that to say air-pressure testing would cause almost all clay pipes and some PVC pipes to crack or explode.

Jim Bowser, an engineer with Chester Engineering, the firm serving as BASA's engineer on BASA's dealings with the DEP, said no other municipality uses air-pressure tests to test sewer laterals.

The debate is to resume at a meeting at 10 a.m. Feb. 27 at the BASA office. Another public meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. March 13 at the Butler Intermediate High School to explain what homeowners will have to do in connection with line testing. But that latter meeting might be postponed or canceled, depending on what transpires on Feb. 27.

It is in the best interests of BASA, its customers in the Deshon and Westwood Manor III areas, and all other BASA customers that problems with the system be resolved. But the authority should not be unreasonable in its attempt to fix problems, and the DEP should likewise not advocate saddling people here with costs before normal deterioration necessitates such costs.

BASA board members should keep the discussion constructive and agree on the most reasonable option.

Pressure testing isn't that option.