Nassau water warning lifted
The Water Authority of Western Nassau County’s drinking water warning was lifted on July 22, around 6 p.m. The authority announced the warning on July 20 for residents of North Valley Stream, Elmont, Floral Park, Franklin Square, New Hyde Park, Stewart Manor and Garden City, following a distribution sampling of a restaurant near N. Fletcher Avenue and Dutch Broadway in North Valley Stream on July 18, which tested positive for E. coli.
The water authority declined to identify the restaurant. According to the authority, one out of the 11 water samples that were collected by the authority last Monday was found positive for E. coli bacteria.
On July 20 and July 21, 171 samples were collected by the water authority; 50 samples at 45 distribution sites throughout the water district; and 102 samples at the wells, treatment facilities and storage tanks that serve the district; were found to be negative for total coliform bacteria and E. coli. Additionally, the Nassau County Department of Health collected 19 samples at 12 distribution sites throughout the affected area, and found them to be negative for total coliform bacteria and E. coli.
The authority said that it will continue to monitor the district’s drinking water for total coliform bacteria and E. coli, as part of its required routine sampling, which is conducted three days per week, for a total of 100 samples every month. Monthly sampling for bacteria is a state and federal requirement for every public water supplier.
After conducting a positive test for E. coli on July 18, the water authority resampled the location on July 19, and found no detection of E. coli or total coliform bacteria. However, on the same day, a separate location in the same area tested positive for total coliform bacteria, but negative for E. coli.
Robert Swartz, chief engineer for the water authority, explained that total coliform bacteria is only sometimes indicative of the presence of E. coli. “Total coliform is everywhere,” he added. “It’s in the dirt, in the air, everywhere, but in the water, it can be a precursor to E. coli — they know something is there, but they don’t know exactly what.”
In the past 15 years, Swartz said, the authority has recorded one other positive test, which happened nearly a year ago in the same area, near the border of Elmont and North Valley Stream. That location tested positive for E. coli, but was found to be clean on a retest, he said.
The authority warned the more than 120,000 residents in the water district of the warning by going door-to-door, posting the warning to its website and recording a phone message warning. It warned residents to boil water before using it in any way, since water will kill bacteria and other organisms that make people sick — especially young children and the elderly. Swartz said that consuming E. coli can cause intestinal problems, like nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
The authority’s website warns, “Fecal coliforms and E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms.”
Swartz said that the source of the contaminated water is not yet known, and added that the positive E. coli test could have been caused by something airborne, something that was taken from the restaurant’s faucet, or even something from the bottle that was used to test the water. “It’s possible, being that it’s humid out, since you get condensation, that something could have dripped off the bottle, although it’s sterilized,” Swartz said. “It could have been because somebody coughed.”
Swartz said that the authority received nearly 1,500 calls regarding the water warning last week. After the health department lifted the water warning, last Friday, he added, the authority issued a reverse 911 call to inform residents in the district, and went door-to-door to inform restaurants and other businesses located on main streets.
According to the health department, there were no reports of sicknesses due to water intake last week.
More information about the water warning can be found online at www.WAWNC.org, or by calling (516) 327-4100.
Comments about this story? JNash@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.
Comments about this story? JNash@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.
