Tests continue to show bacteria in Canton water

Submitted by the Canton Water Department ~

Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct this situation.

We routinely monitor for the presence of drinking water contaminants. We took 57 samples to test for the presence of coliform bacteria during November. Six of those samples showed the presence of coliform bacteria. The standard is that no more than one sample per month may do so.

What should I do?

You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions. However, if you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor.

People with severely compromised immune systems, infants, and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

What does this mean?

This is not an emergency. If it had been, you would have been notified immediately. Total coliform bacteria are generally not harmful themselves. Coliforms are bacteria which are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially harmful bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems.

Usually, coliforms are a sign that there could be a problem with the system’s treatment or distribution system (pipes). Whenever we detect coliform bacteria in any sample, we do follow-up testing to see if other bacteria of greater concern, such as fecal coliform or E. coli, are present. We did not find any of these bacteria in our subsequent testing. If we had, we would have notified you immediately. However, we are still finding coliforms in the drinking water.

What happened? What was done?

We are still working on adjustments at the treatment plants. The coliform we are seeing are at the extreme periphery of the system’s boundaries where chlorine residuals are at their lowest. We will continue to monitor our system and keep the community up to date with our findings. The coliform we are seeing is environmental and not likely to cause any major water quality issues.

For more information, please contact Dennis Morton at 781-821-5017 or by mail to the Canton Water Department, 801 Washington St., Canton, MA 02021.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Dec 13 2012. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.