A Precautionary Boil Water Advisory has been issued for a section of Aldersgate subdivision off Gum Branch Road. A main water line serving the subdivision broke and has been repaired. There is no evidence of contamination but State regulations require the precautionary Boil Water Advisory until tests confirm the lack of contamination.
The area affected is from the first intersection of Aldersgate Road and Epworth Drive to the end of the subdivision.
The City of Jacksonville is recommending if you live in the apartments, that you boil water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and food preparation. Water should be brought to a rolling boil for one minute and cooled before using. Water for pets should be boiled and then cooled for their use. Boiling water for one minute should kill any disease-causing organisms that may be present in the water.
This is strictly a precaution and no evidence of contamination has been found by the City.
The boil water advisory will continue until further notice. The test will take between 24-48 hours and cannot be lifted until tests confirm the absence of bacteria.
For more information, call City Utilities Maintenance at 938-5234 or check our website www.jacksonvillenc.gov where we have a special section on the advisory. See: www.jacksonvillenc.gov/boiladvisory for information.
What should I do?
As a precaution until additional testing can confirm the absence of coliform bacteria, you are advised to boil all water used for human consumption or use bottled water. Bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.
If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your health care providers 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 does this mean?
This is not an emergency as total coliform bacteria are generally not harmful themselves.
Coliforms are bacteria which 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.
Usually, coliforms are a sign that there could be a problem with the treatment or distribution system (pipes). Whenever we detect coliform bacteria in any sample, we do follow-up testing to see if other bacteria of greater concern, such as fecal coliform or E. coli, are present. We did not find any of these bacteria in our subsequent testing. However, we advise customers to boil water used for human consumption until we have determined that the coliform bacteria are no longer present in the system. After we have determined that coliform bacteria are no longer present we will rescind the boil water advisory.