After $1,000 in repairs, the water is safe to drink again.
As of July 1, Leon’s Rural Water District No. 1 lifted the boil order issued on June 26.
Bill Littrell, environmental specialist with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, said that routine tests of the water system showed E. coli bacteria in the water supply as early as June 18.
After replacing chlorine pumps and a check valve, he said they tested the water system again.
“All of those came back good. We did some repairs on the system and got our residual chlorine levels back up,” Littrell said.
E. coli is part of a family of bacteria called fecal coliforms, often found in human and animal waste. Higher levels of fecal coliforms are a sign of a failure in water treatment or damage to a water treatment system. Anyone who drinks water contaminated by the bacteria, especially those with weakened immune systems, can develop symptoms such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea or headaches.
Littrell said that none of the 300 people served by the water district got sick. He had no idea what caused the contamination.
“A water line break perhaps, any number of issues could cause it,” he said. “We were unable to determine any specific cause.”
Research shows that E. coli can contaminate drinking water when increased runoff enters the water source after heavy rains.
Littrell said that work on the water system continued until June 30, and a new round of water sampling would be done in the coming days.
“Leon normally does bacteriological sampling once per month, but we’ve increased that in light of this,” he said.
Skylar McElhaney, public information officer for DEQ ,said that Leon had two other incidences of water samples showing coliforms in May 2009 and December 2008, but there was no boil order because additional samples came back without E.coli contamination.
Phil Banker 221-6542
