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CLINTON — The culinary water has now been deemed safe and the boil order was lifted Thursday morning for Clinton and Syracuse.
Test results confirmed the culinary water was safe for use in both cities after samples of Clinton City water tested positive for E. coli bacteria Saturday and Syracuse water tested positive for E. coli and Coliform Friday, according to city officials. However, officials asked residents in both cities to implement proper flushing procedures before using the water.
This was the second case in less than a year that the Clinton City water system tested positive for E. coli. In August 2014, a contamination was believed to have originated from a cross-connection where a resident connected a line of irrigation water to the drinking water system at his or her home.
“Clinton City wishes to thank the hard work and dedication of staff and the patience our residents have shown through this difficult process,” officials said in a statement.
Syracuse public works crews found the source of their water contamination, which was a "cross connection of culinary and secondary (sprinkler and irrigation) lines," city officials said in a prepared statement.
The Syracuse boil order was partially lifted Tuesday and is now deemed safe for the entire city.
The costs from the water problems had not yet been tallied, but the bills include thousands of water bottles purchased by each city, materials for water samples and labor. Officials said that their cities are working toward preventing another cross contamination between culinary and secondary water.
Officials gave the following guidelines on the Clinton City website for flushing water:
• Faucets – Run cold water for 20 minutes
• Showers - Run cold water for 20 minutes
• Toilets – No flushing required
• Washing machines – No flushing required
• Dishwashers – No flushing required
• Outdoor spigots – Disconnect hoses first, then run water for five minutes • Refrigerator water dispenser – Run water for five minutes
• Faucet/fridge water filters – Consider replacing filter per manufacturer’s recommendation
• In-line water filter - Consider replacing filter per manufacturer’s recommendation
• Ice makers – Dump all existing ice
• Water heaters – Run hot water from all faucets until water runs cold. Or drain the water heater using spigot/release on the bottom of heater
• Water softeners – Cycle water softener per manufacturer’s recommendation
• Reverse osmosis systems – Cycle through and consider replacing filters per manufacturer’s recommendation
• Soft drink dispensers – Disconnect flavoring and cycle water through until replaced with fresh water, reconnect flavoring.
The source of the contamination for Clinton City has not yet been released.
Contributing: Katie Larsen
