Politics & Government

Canton Selectmen, DPW Address Cause of Water Contamination

The selectmen and DPW discussed the boil water order and the cause of the contaminated tank.

Animals were to blame for the in Canton's water supply last week. According to Canton Superintendent of Public Works Michael Trotta, animal remains on top of a screened vent above a water supply tank on Indian Lane caused the contamination.

The town of Canton had been under a boil water order from the DEP for seven days. The DEP on Monday evening. After four days in a row of clean, E.coli-free samples, the DEP lifted the boil water order, Trotta said.

"We profoundly apologize to the people of Canton for last week's water dilemma," Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Avril Elkhort said at the meeting.

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She thanked the DPW, town staff, and the police and fire departments for working since September 27 to resolve this issue.

Town Administrator Bill Friel said during the week-long boil water order, the town used the reverse 911 system to notify businesses and residents, along with making announcements on TV, Canton Cable 8, message boards and in the newspaper.

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Anyone who did not get a reverse 911 call is asked to register his or her landline phone or cell phone, Friel said.

During the week-long period, the town addressed the issue of higher than normal coliform counts in the water supply, balancing levels of added chlorine in the system and addressing the single indication of E.coli, Friel said.

"The town's response has been prompt and comprehensive," the town administrator stated.

Currently, the water tanks are being flushed, along with hydrants throughout town, he noted. The 1,100 hydrants being flushed will be closed in a matter of days, he said.

The contaminated tank was cleaned and the animals were removed, Trotta noted. The rehab of the tank, which costs about $8,000, includes scraping, cleaning, washing and adding a mixing system to the water tank.Β 

The current screened vents on top of the tanks meet the state requirements, but the town will be adding a rubber vent inside the tank to minimize any further drippage, Trotta said.

In the future, the DPW would be requesting $5,000 to $6,000 each year to begin updating the tanks and vent systems, he said.

The contamination, caused by an intrusion into the system, "is a rare event," Trotta said. "We have five tanks with 6 million gallons of water stored."

"It absolutely shouldn't have happened but it did," Trotta said. "But the health risk was minimized by the (town's) action and the DEP's."


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