Pennsylvania American Water issues boil water notice for Allegheny and Washington counties
More than 90,000 Pennsylvania American Water customers are under a boil water notice as of Saturday morning.
According to PAW, an early morning power surge caused a depletion of water storage at the tank near the Aldrich Water Treatment Plant in Elrama.
This also results in a loss of water pressure within the distribution system, and that could lead to contamination entering the system through backflow or back siphonage.
This notice applies to approximately 95,000 customer connections in the following Pennsylvania American Water service areas in Washington and Allegheny Counties:
Allegheny County
Bethel Park
Bridgeville
Clairton
Dravosburg
Elizabeth Township
Elizabeth Borough
Forward Township
Glassport
Jefferson Hills Borough
Liberty
Lincoln
North Fayette
South Fayette
South Park
Upper Saint Clair
West Elizabeth
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Amwell
Buffalo
Canonsburg
Canton
Carroll Township
Cecil Township
Chartiers
City of Washington
Claysville
Cross Creek
Donegal Township
East Washington
Fallowfield
Finleyville
Green Hills Borough
Houston
Jefferson
Monongahela
Mount Pleasant
New Eagle
North Franklin
North Strabane
Nottingham
Peters Township
Somerset Township
South Franklin
South Strabane
Union Township
West Middletown
DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute, and cool before using; or use bottled water. You should use boil or bottled water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and food preparation until further notice.
Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea and associated headaches.
These symptoms, however, are not caused only by organisms in drinking water, but also by other factors. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice.
Guardians of infants and young children and people at increased risk, such as pregnant women, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems, should seek advice from their health care advisors about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 (800) 426 4791.
What happened? What is being done?
Normal electrical service has been restored. The company is also collecting and analyzing additional water quality samples, including bacterial samples.
We will inform you when the corrective actions have been completed and you no longer need to boil your water. For more information, visit www.pennsylvaniaamwater.com, and select Alerts, or contact Pennsylvania American Water’s customer service center at 800-565-7292.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
This notice is being sent to you by Pennsylvania American Water.
