DEP deems water OK to drink
GREENSBORO – Water in Dunkard Valley Joint Municipal Authority around Greensboro was deemed safe to consume Saturday, although state environmental officials said they continued the boil-water advisory through Tuesday morning as they awaited more test results to confirm those initial findings.
“They were actually clear over the weekend, but we asked (the municipal authority) to take one more sample just to be on the safe side,” state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John Poister said of the initial round of results. “We’re certainly glad the boil-water advisory has been lifted.”
That final round of samples taken Monday at five locations around the system again came back clean, Poister said, prompting the DEP to end its boil-water order about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The order had been in effect since Thursday after a large quantity of polyaluminium chloride, a chemical used in the water treatment process, was introduced into the authority’s treatment plant near Greensboro because of an equipment malfunction. Authority officials said the chemical was contained to the plant and never reached the system’s 500 customers connected to the system.
Poister said that assertion is backed up by test results Saturday that showed the water was safe for consumption.
“We do know that it was very quick that their samples were good,” Poister said. “For the water quality to (improve) that quickly, you tend to believe that was the case.”
A “do-not-consume” order was issued Thursday morning immediately after the equipment malfunction at the plant and the municipal authority briefly switched over to water from the East Dunkard Water Authority’s system. The DEP later issued a boil advisory for any water that was to be consumed or used for cooking. The DEP told customers the water was safe to use for showers, washing dishes or cleaning clothes.