Boil water advisory could be lifted
GREENSBORO – A boil water advisory in effect since Thursday for customers in the Dunkard Valley Municipal Authority around Greensboro is expected to be lifted today, the state Department of Environmental Protection said.
DEP spokesman John Poister said a large quantity of polyaluminium chloride, a chemical used in the water treatment process, was injected into the authority’s system early Thursday morning, prompting a “do not consume” order immediately after.
“It’s a common chemical and there are trace amounts in the water we drink, but too much got in,” Poister said.
Customers have been permitted to use the water since Friday, but were required to boil it for at least a minute if they wanted to drink it or use it for cooking. The water is safe to use for showers, clean clothes and wash dishes, Poister said.
Poister said the system was flushed and testing performed Friday and Saturday. A final round of testing at five locations around the system was conducted Monday morning with the results expected back today, Poister said. If those results are clear, which is expected, the boil water advisory would be lifted immediately, he said.
Poister said workers Thursday discovered a “device that introduces (polyaluminium chloride) into the water malfunctioned” and too much of the chemical entered the water source. The chemical is used to help with coagulation of particles in holding tanks during the treatment process.
“They followed the guidelines, reported it to us immediately and reported to their customers through a blast phone call,” Poister said. “They’ve done the things they should do to make sure their customers were aware.”
Authority Board President Charles Mallory said the chemical never reached customer pipelines and was contained to the processing plant located off Stoney Hill Road near Greensboro. He said the authority briefly tapped into East Dunkard Water Authority’s system to continue water service Thursday, but then switched back to its own water supply later that night.
Mallory said the authority changed filters following the malfunction.
“Any problems were contained to the plant,” Mallory said. “It never got into the system and there was never any danger to anyone’s health.”
Pat Sweeney, business manager of Southeastern Greene School District, said the district shut off the water fountains at Mapletown Junior-Senior High School, which is the only building supplied by Dunkard Valley, and set up water dispensers and provided students with bottled water.
The Dunkard Valley Municipal Authority serves about 500 customers.
Staff writer Bob Niedbala contributed to this story.