Shortly before this poverty-stricken city began drawing its drinking water from a local river in a cost-cutting move nearly two years ago, officials huddled at the municipal water treatment plant, running through a checklist of final preparations. Mike Glasgow, a plant supervisor at the time, says he asked a state water quality official at the meeting how often his staffers would need to check the water for proper levels of phosphate, a chemical added to prevent lead corrosion from pipes.