Residents received the advisory by way of an automated phone system and notices posted throughout the borough and on the borough website.
The problem, which has cropped up before, appears to have been precipitated by Friday’s rainstorm and freakishly warm temperatures for early January that rose into the low 60s.
The large amount of rainfall, coupled with the rapid snow melt, is believed to have stirred up organic matter and sediments at the bottom of the settling pond that connects to the borough’s water treatment plant.
Currently, water from Lake Rutherford, which supplies the treatment plant, flows naturally through the settling pond on its way to the plant.
"We do our own laboratory tests and currently the water that’s flowing out of (the settling pond) is well within the accepted parameters, but the DEP decides how long they want you to test, and usually it’s two rounds over a day or two," Holowach said.
With Monday being a holiday, "I would think we’re probably looking at Thursday or Friday before the advisory gets lifted."
Residents, he said, will be notified accordingly in the same manner as they were when the advisory was first issued.
Until then, residents are advised to bring all drinking water to a boil, let it continue to boil for one minute, and then let it cool before using it — or else use bottled water.
Boiling the water in this manner kills bacteria and other organisms that may be in the water.
In an effort to address the turbidity problem, the borough applied for and was approved last year for a $400,000 state grant that it intends to use toward the construction of a new pipeline directly from Lake Rutherford to the water treatment plant, thus bypassing the settling pond entirely.