Coliform bacteria found in Hammond's drinking water
Area News-- Residents living in the Village of Hammond should boil their water or drink bottled water until further notice.
HAMMOND - Residents living in the Village of Hammond should boil their water or drink bottled water until further notice.
The Public Works Department said a water sample collected on May 24 indicated the presence of coliform bacteria. Further sampling on May 29 confirmed the presence of the bacteria.
According to a letter mailed to all village residents, coliform bacteria are generally not harmful.
“Coliform are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems,” the letter stated.
Testing for other bacteria in the water, such as fecal coliform or E. coli, came back negative.
In an effort to correct the problem, the department is “emergency chlorinating the water system and will continue to test and monitor the water system until this is resolved.”
The letter mailed to residents urges people to discard any ice, food or beverages that may have been prepared with the unsafe water. The letter recommends residents boil or use commercially bottled for drinking and food preparation.
Tags: new richmond, western wisconsin, news, health, environment
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