The Temple News conducted a test that showed high levels of chlorine in drinking water.

-By Diamante Ortiz, originally posted on October 18, 2016

On the ninth floor of Ritter Annex, two water fountains have yellow-brown residue around the spout. The residue stains the base of the mouthpiece and the basin. When water first started coming out of the fountain, it was tainted a light bluish-green color for a few seconds before becoming clear.

Last month, the Inquirer reported that colleges and universities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are not legally required to test its water for contamination after Rowan University found elevated levels of lead in its water. After learning of the lead in Rowan’s water, Temple began retesting its water to make sure it was safe, the Inquirer reported.

“I’m from Albania, and you can drink the water from a waterfall, it’s very clean,” said Kristi Bezhani, a junior global studies major. “And here, it’s not like that. It tastes like sour, salty, rusty metal, like when you go to water fountains.”

The Temple News conducted a water test using a kit purchased from Inlet Innovations, a Florida company that sells one of the highest-rated water testing kits on Amazon.com. Using a sample from the water fountain in the lobby of Johnson and Hardwick residence halls. The kit had test strips that would test for lead, bacteria, pesticides, iron, copper, the acidity, the ability to neutralize acid, hardness, chlorine, nitrates and nitrites. The results came back negative for lead and pesticides and only trace amounts of bacteria were found. The nitrate, pH, copper and iron levels all fell below the maximum contaminant levels allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency in drinking water. Chlorine levels appeared at 5 parts per million, one part above the EPA allowed level of 4 ppm. The hardness of the water came out to 200 ppm, which is four times the EPA allowed maximum of 50 ppm. The level of nitrite, at 5 ppm, exceeded the EPA’s guidelines to keep nitrite at less than 1 ppm.

The Inquirer reported that Temple is part of the city’s water system, which is supplied by the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers.

According to the Philadelphia Water Department’s annual Drinking Water Quality Report, which collected data from 2015, Philadelphia’s water shows no violations or any unsafe contaminants.

Bill Jalbert, the director of facilities at Temple, said that if faucets are turned off for long periods of time, like on holiday breaks, the water that comes out sometimes looks brown because of high mineral buildup in the water.

Lok R. Pokhrel, an assistant professor of environmental health at Temple, has conducted research on water quality, but not specifically at Temple.

“Tap water has its own issues,” he said. “And bottled water has its own issues. Some say bottled water is not sustainable either. Some recent surveys have said that bottled water is more contaminated, like maybe, four times more contaminated than the toilet seat. … There are issues on both sides. Temple having old buildings may have several lead pipings.”

“It is also advised that you should wait five minutes to let your water run, so it can be clean,” Pokhrel said.

By Andy Gardner, originally posted on October 18, 2016

MASSENA — Water testing throughout the Massena Central School District recently revealed lead contamination in a few of the sources tested, but the problem has been fixed and the water is now safe to drink.

“When each of the schools were tested, we have a few samples come back above 15 parts per billion (of lead), the threshold set for the EPA for lead in water,” MCS Superintendent Pat Brady said. “I’m glad we had just a limited amount come back, we dealt with them immediately, they’re all back online in each of those areas and our water is safe to drink here at the school.”

He said over the summer, the district began testing potable water sources at all of its buildings. This is in light of a new state law that mandates all New York school districts test for lead, kindergarten through fifth grade by Sept. 30 and Oct. 31 for grades six through 12. Brady said they wanted to get it done before the requirement.

They checked 98 samples at Nightengale, one of which was above the 15 ppb threshold and 76 at Madison, of which four were above the threshold. None were above the limit at Jefferson, the high school, bus garage or central administration. J.W. Leary had 40 sources checked and eight initially came back above 15 ppb, but it’s believed that was due to a test error.

“The safety officer believed there was a problem with the testing on those. When they were re-tested, they all came back below the threshold,” Brady said.

Of the samples that were contaminated, he said the test indicated the lead was coming from the faucet or some other part of the fixture.

“All of the tests that came back above the threshold indicated it was a problem in the fixture, the faucet, rather than the line itself. This could be due to corrosion over time, due to solder connections,” Brady said.

They replaced the faucets and a second test revealed that solved the problem, with the exception of one faucet at Madison.

“Only one of the second tests came back above (15 ppb), in a band room at Madison where the faucet is not used for student consumption, so we did take that one offline. It wasn’t being used anyway,” the superintendent said.

He said there isn’t concern for students suffering from lead poisoning.

“You’re going to find some level of lead in most water sources, including at home,” Brady said. “If any parent has concerns that their child has lead in their blood above the threshold, I would encourage them to go to their physician and I encourage them to test their own sources of water at home.”

The district will soon have to test all non-potable water sources for lead, such as bathroom faucets or slop sinks. He said there may be some state grant money available to cover the testing costs, but that’s not yet certain.

Originally posted on October 18, 2016

Gold Hill, Ore. — Gold Hill residents may face another boil water advisory.

The city is re-routing a water main Monday.

There’s a chance it will have to temporarily shut down water service.

If that happens there will likely be a boil water advisory afterward to ensure bacteria didn’t get into the system.

NBC5 is following this story and will bring you updated information as we have it.

By Romando Dixson, originally posted on October 18, 2016

About 100 homes in a Taylors subdivision are under a boil water advisory, the Greer Commission of Public Works said.

Contractors hit a water line in the Spring Ridge subdivision Tuesday, causing a minor water issue, officials said.

“Unfortunately that issue is now impacting the entire neighborhood and a boil water advisory is needed for approximately 100 homes,” Alison Rauch, spokeswoman for Greer, said in a news release. “Once repairs are complete, customers are asked to boil their water for one minute for the next 24 hours before drinking or cooking.

By Emily Satchell, originally posted on October 18, 2016

HERTFORD COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A boil water advisory issued on October 18 for some parts of Hertford County has been lifted.

Samples collected from multiple locations within the Hertford County Rural Water System have been tested by a state lab and were found to be free of bacteria.

If you use water from this system, you’re asked to still manage water usage and consumption and report any leaks or problems to Hertford County Rural Water.

Originally posted on October 19, 2016

The boil advisory for Leonville has been lifted.

The Town of Leonville was issued a boil water advisory Oct. 13 because of a broken water line.

Areas included in the advisory were:

CBS Trailer Park
Suburban Village Trailer Park
All of Country Ridge Road
Linwood East Area
The water is safe to consume.

by Carolyn Fleegle, originally posted on October 18

The New Concord Water Department has issued a boil advisory for some of its customers.

Those living on Chestnut to Delaware Streets need to boil their water until further notice due to a water main break.

Water service should be restored later on Tuesday.

Customers may experience low pressure and discolored water and should not do laundry until the water clears.

Boil advisories are a required precautionary measure until testing confirms the safety of the water.

Water main breaks at Venice Train Depot, residents asked to boil water.
SARASOTA CO., Fla. (WWSB) — UPDATE: Although water to the Island of Venice has been restored, residents may experience low water pressure for the next 10 hours due to the water main break at the Venice Train Depot around 4 p.m., according to city Utilities Field Ops Supervisor Dave Abene.
Currently there is no access to the SCAT bus station or the restrooms at the Train Depot, or the nearby boat ramp while repairs continue.
Buses are stopping at the corner of Seaboard and Venice Ave. for passengers, about 150 feet away.
— The City of Venice Utilities Department is working to repair a major water main break at the Venice Train Depot that occurred around 5 p.m. according to Utilities Director Tim Hochuli.
The break is causing customers on the Island of Venice to experience very low water pressure, or none at all.
The cause of the break is not yet known.
The entrance to the Train Deport is currently closed off, including to the buses that normally stop there.
Once water pressure has been restored, a boil water notice will be sent out to residents.
Updates will be forthcoming as officials receive more information and repairs are made.

McBride under a Boil Water Advisory – NOW LIFTED.
McBride’s Boil Water Advisory has been lifted as of April 8th.
The Provincial Water Lab reports all four water samples collected on April 6th from the McBride community water system are satisfactory.
The Village says Coliform and E. coli counts were not detected.
A notice posted April 6th to the Village website says the advisory comes in consultation with Northern Health under the Drinking Protection Act.
“This Boil Water Notice applies to all users of the Village of McBride water supply system and should be followed by all persons using water from this system,” the advisory reads.
People should use boiled water for drinking purposes, food preparation, coffee machines, brushing teeth, infant formulas, making ice, and washing fruits and vegetables The statement reads “there is, was, or may be a threat to the drinking water,” but The Goat could not reach the Mayor, Village, or Northern Health staff by the time this article was published to find out what, if anything, has contaminated the water, or if the threat could be related to infrastructure.
Businesses should now have signs by any sinks or drinking fountains accessible to the public, according to the Village’s statement, and if the opportunity presents itself — advise any person who may potentially use the water.
The advisory will remain in effect until another public notice is issued, according to the Village’s statement.
The decision whether to request or order issuance of one of these notices rests with the discretion of a drinking Water Officer, but in general, they are used when the public health threat posed by the water supply system is significant and the nature of the threat is one that can be effectively addressed through boiling of the water,” the statement reads.

By Kevin Green, originally posted on October 18, 2016

GATES COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) — A boil water advisory has been lifted for residents in Gates County, North Carolina, officials announced Tuesday.

An advisory had been issued as Hurricane Matthew stormed through northeast North Carolina last weekend. A water main failure between Gatesville and Sunbury left many residents without water.

Residents who still had water were asked to boil if before consuming. Officials on Tuesday said residents could safely consume water. Gates County was giving out bottled water to residents would needed it last week.

County officials say emergency repairs were made early last week, and testing showed clean samples.