Aug 12, 2009 5:56 pm US/Eastern
Boil Water Order Disrupts Life In Milford
MILFORD (WBZ) ―
In Milford, traffic flows in a steady stream toward the water.
Bottled water, that is. From an operations center in the high school parking lot, more than 20,000 gallons of it have been given out to residents after a boil water order was issued Sunday.
The order went into effect after coliform and E. coli were found in some routine test samples of the town's water system.
According to the Milford Water Company's Web site, chlorination was added to the water.
But town officials say water samples collected on Tuesday continued to show bacteria.
"It was a little bit of a surprise, we were all hoping we would have a second round of samples yesterday that would have been clean," said Milford Fire Chief John Touhey, who is also the town's emergency management director. "It's a disruption to normal life, you know the residents are inconvenienced in that the water out of the tap shouldn't be consumed."
It can be used to wash clothing and take showers.
"It took a little bit to register that I actually really have to boil water," said Phyllis Wildermuth, who picked up a daily ration of bottled water with her daughter Toni. "It looks the same it doesn't smell any different."
The state requires two consecutive days of clean water tests before a boil water can be lifted.
It's unclear what caused the contamination, but according to the Milford Water Company's website, "Bacterial contamination can occur when increased run-off enters the drinking water source (for example, following heavy rains). It can also happen due to a break in the distribution system (pipes) or a failure in the water treatment process."
Chief Touhey says there's no word anyone has become ill as a result of the contamination.
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