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Old Fort water cleared

By Mike Conley | The McDowell News

Published: July 9, 2009

State environmental health officials lifted the boil water notice for Old Fort after samples came back negative for fecal coliform bacteria. That means residents and businesses in Old Fort can go back to using the town's water as before.
A notice sent out just before noon on Thursday states that "it is no longer necessary to boil water used for human consumption." The state Division of Environmental Health, a part of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, sent out the notice.
The decision to lift the boil water advisory was made based on laboratory analyses of water samples collected throughout Old Fort on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We took a lot of samples at different times and all samples from all over the town showed the problem no longer exists," said Wade Knox, environmental engineer with the state division's public water supply section. "The samples showed that there is no system-wide contamination incident."
Knox said the town's water is routinely sampled twice a month. The samples are sent to Pace Analytical Services Inc., private full-service sampling and testing firm.
A sample taken on Monday showed the presence of fecal coliform bacteria, which can make people sick. Within 24 hours after the first sample, four more samples had to be taken. One of those indicated the presence of total coliform bacteria, which includes many different forms of bacteria. The second sample prompted the issuing of the boil water notice, in accordance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
Old Fort's water customers were warned to boil their water before drinking it or instead use bottled water. The town's restaurants were advised by the local Health Department to close their doors until the notice could be lifted. Old Fort has almost 750 water customers, said town officials.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, more samples were taken throughout the town's water system. They came back as negative for the fecal coliform bacteria.
"From all the samples, we've concluded that there is no fecal coliform bacteria in the system," said Knox. "We've worked our tails off here night and day to make sure things get back to normal."
He added that the test that came back positive on Monday could have come from a specific outdoor faucet.
Mayor Garland Norton said Thursday that the town and state environmental health officials have yet to find a cause for the initial positive test but the water supply as a whole is safe.
"The best I can read is the entire town's water was never contaminated," said Norton. "It was just one area."
Town officials said they have not gotten any reports of people getting sick from fecal coliform bacteria.
On Thursday, the district Health Department notified restaurant owners and operators in Old Fort that they could reopen for business.
When the notice was in effect, the McDowell County Emergency Management brought bottled water to Old Fort. Hearts with Hands, the disaster relief agency founded by evangelist Ralph Sexton, brought a truck of bulk water to Old Fort.