E-coli found in Wareham water

The Wareham Water Department was notified Monday morning that a water sample taken on Thursday, Aug. 23, tested positive for e-coli.
The sample was taken from a residence on Marion Road and suggests that sewage or animal wastes could be present in the water supply. The water department urges affected residents to avoid municipal water if possible, and to boil any town water before drinking it or preparing food with it.
“Even though our test sample came back negative on Friday, we’re still taking these steps,” Mike Martin, Wareham Fire District Water Department supervisor, said.
Martin said that EPA guidelines under the Safe Drinking Water Act required the town to issue the mandatory boiling advisory even though tests the next day did not show any signs of contamination. The act sets maximum levels for contaminants found in water. E-coli and other fecal coliform bacteria should not show up in more than 5 percent of samples taken in a month. Prior to the discovery of e-coli in one sample there had been fluctuating highs and lows of total coliform bacteria that served as a background to make the discovery of one sample contaminated with e-coli to be sufficient to trigger the three-day boil water order. While e-coli and fecal coliform bacteria are not necessarily harmful in and of themselves, they can cause infection if they find their way out of the digestive tract through a perforation. Some strains, though, are toxic, and other bacteria frequently associated with contamination can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to jaundice.
“It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Martin said.
The sample was taken from the Wareham home by water department personnel as part of regular testing under a sampling plan approved by the Department of Environmental Protection. While it may be possible that the contamination was not in the water system, Martin says that it’s difficult to track down the source of sampling because there are so many variables involved.
“To determine an exact cause is impossible because of the way we do sampling,” Martin said. “It’s a snapshot of the water.”
Martin listed several possible sources of contamination in the system, including construction all over town, as well as increased flushing of the system in August. The Wareham Fire District Water Department issued an advisory about contamination two-years ago when there was a break in a 24-inch main. There was no confirmed contamination in the water so the boiling advisory was not mandatory.
The advisory will remain in place until appropriate actions are taken to purge the system of the bacteria and subsequent tests show that the system is free of e-coli and other fecal coliform bacteria. That could be Thursday, Aug. 30 or Friday, Aug. 31.
If you have any questions, contact the Wareham Water Department at 508-295-0450 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Fact sheets will be available at the water department, Wareham Town Hall, the Wareham Free Library and on the town’s Web site, www.wareham.ma.us

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