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UPDATE: Boil advisories lifted
Water contamination no longer a threat in South Bryan neighborhoods
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Tap water in the Hardwicke, Fort McAllister and Kinsale neighborhoods of South Bryan is now safe to drink and use without boiling, said South Atlantic Utilities COO Tony Daguillo.

Daguillo said results from the well site in question came back Tuesday morning negative for fecal coliform, and he got the "all clear" from the state around 2:30 p.m. the same day. 

"I've been given the all clear and just got permission to lift the boil water notice," he said.

See more in the Oct. 30 edition of the News.

Previous story:

A tap water boil advisory for some South Bryan residents is still in effect due to possible fecal matter contamination, according to South Atlantic Utilites COO Tony Daguillo.

The Bryan County News was told earlier this morning by a South Atlantic Utilities representative that tap water in the Hardwicke, Fort McAllister and Kinsale areas was safe to drink and use without boiling.

However, Daguillo said the advisory, which went into effect Friday evening, is not expected to be lifted until Tuesday afternoon after more testing is completed and the state gives South Atlantic Utilities the final OK.

So residents still “technically” need to boil their water before using it, he said.

“We’re not pumping water from the well that tested positive, we’ve chlorinated the water from all the wells and we’ve flushed out the system,” he said. “The odds of anyone getting contaminated water are very low.”

Daguillo apologized for the misinformation given to the News and said he would have to make sure his staff understood the technicalities of the situation.

According to Daguillo, the odds of the water being contaminated have been low from the beginning. He said he personally thinks the positive test result was a matter of user error than actual contamination.

“It’s very, very rare that the wells get contaminated in large part because of the way there are constructed. It’s not impossible, but it’s rare,” Daguillo said, noting that the water is also chlorinated, which kills bacteria.

“I personally don’t think there was ever a real concern for contamination,” he said. “But the way the law reads, we have to put up a boil notice and it has to include certain language.”

Still, the boil advisory cannot be lifted until official results from a second test come back from the lab and those results are cleared by the state, Daguillo said.

“We’re doing samples today, as we speak, and they’ll go to the lab … it takes a full day (to get results),” he said. “I’m hoping to have results back by Tuesday afternoon.” 

Previous report:

Residents of some South Bryan neighborhoods are now able to drink and use their tap water again after being given boil notices over the weekend.

According to a representative from South Atlantic Utilities, one well site that serves Hardwicke, Fort McAllister and Kinsale areas tested positive for fecal matter.

“We had to shut down that well and we had to put up notices because the water in the lines could have been contaminated,” the representative said.

A notice posted Friday on stop signs around the neighborhoods telling residents to boil their water before using.

But the lines have been flushed and are now operating on a backup well, “So resident are OK to drink, shower, use the water as normal,” the representative said, noting that the contaminated well is to be retested by Tuesday.

The representative couldn’t speak to what may have caused the contamination. Check back here and in the Oct. 30 edition of the news for further details. 

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