Boil Water Advisory
Important reminder: Following severe flooding, many home water treatment equipment products (including reverse osmosis systems) do not provide total protection against all types of disease causing microorganisms that my be present in contaminated drinking water.
In many cases products will be labeled with a statement such as “Do not use with water that is microbiologically unsafe or of unknown quantity without adequate disinfection before of after the system”. Recommendations made in all cases should follow the manufacturers instructions, if available.
Each manufacturer’s equipment is different and appropiate cleaning and sanitizing procedures may also differ accordingly. Following evidence of serious potential disease causing contamination or in flood or other disaster stricken areas and after the discontinuance of a Boil Water Advisory (BWA)has been issued and the water supply has been considered safe to use and drink*, several sanitization steps should be taken to ensure that water treatment equipment is ready to use again.
Similarly, residents who get water from a well must be concerned about contamination of their water supply and should follow basic procedures to clean and sanitize their well water treatment equipment before use, whenever water testing indicates that well contamination has occurred we recommend Ultraviolet disinfection.
*Regulations require that two consecutive samples be collected for bacteriological quality following the water being shut off. In order to restore full service as soon as possible, the Department of Health allows rescission of the precautionary boil water notice if the first sample is bacteriologically acceptable and the second sample meets certain general water quality standards. However, if the second sample is bacteriologically questionable or unacceptable, then this precautionary boil water advisory will be reissued until two consecutive bacteriologically acceptable samples are demonstrated.