Nearly 1,300 homes in the city of Lincoln are affected by a boil water order issued Wednesday after one home’s water supply tested positive twice for E. coli bacteria.
Two water samples taken from a house on June 11 and Monday tested positive for E. coli bacteria.
Bismarck is not affected by the contamination, according to Greg Wavra, manager of the state Department of Health’s Drinking Water Program.
City officials were scrambling Wednesday to notify residents, initially informing Lincoln Elementary School staff and students there for summer programs to not drink from the water fountains.
Becky Geiger and her sons, Lainn, 5, and Vann, 9, were out canvassing their south Lincoln neighborhood, placing brightly colored flyers onto doors, warning residents not to drink the water.
Lewellyn said she is concerned about the boil water order, because she is still bottle feeding her 15 month old daughter, and is using tap water.
It takes 24 hours plus to get a positive test off your water," he said.
Wise said the city doesn’t know where the source of the contamination is.
He said they tested houses on both sides on the house that tested positive, and results came back negative.
Wavra, who is with the state Health Department, said samples will be taken from nine site locations, and the Health Department will not lift the boil water order until water samples from all locations come back negative.