Boil-water advisory continues

100,000 are affected; water buffalos set up

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The boil-water advisory for about 100,000 Pennsylvania American Water customers in southern Allegheny and Washington counties that began Monday because of cloudy tap water will last at least until Wednesday morning, but it could extend into the afternoon.

It all depends on when the privately owned utility can show the state Department of Environmental Protection that it has passed the second of two required turbidity tests.

Melissa Walters, a Pennsylvania American spokeswoman, said the cause of the turbidity that prompted the precautionary advisory in 55 municipalities was a malfunctioning filter at the company’s Aldrich Purification Plant on the Monongahela River in Union, Washington County. The company first reported “a spike” in turbidity at 5:30 a.m. Monday, according to the DEP’s field order.

The DEP said a malfunctioning clarifier at the purification plant interfered with the operation of the filter. The filter, one of eight at Aldrich, Ms. Walters said, was repaired Monday night, and all the contaminated water at the treatment facility was flushed from the system. Two storage tanks containing thousands of gallons of cloudy water were drained.

The two turbidity tests are conducted a day apart. The first samples were taken Monday night, the second round of samples Tuesday night. Turbidity readings and total coliform tests are done in-house, and Pennsylvania American’s lab is certified by DEP.

Turbidity, or cloudiness, is a primary water quality factor but does not make water unsafe to drink. But it may interfere with disinfection and allow for growth of viruses, bacteria and parasites, the water company acknowledged on its website Tuesday. Those “bugs” can cause a variety of health prob-