The Edmonson County Water District (ECWD) continues to warn customers in the Wax area to boil water before drinking or using in cooking, while the conserve water alert issued on Friday has been lifted.
The ECWD reports high turbidity levels in the water originating in the plant that serves the Wax area.
“We routinely monitor your water for turbidity (cloudiness). This tells us whether we are effectively filtering the water supply. A water sample taken 1/26/24 showed turbidity levels of 8.0 turbidity units. This is above the standard of 1.0 turbidity units,” the water district said.
Because of these high levels of turbidity, there is an increased chance that the water may contain disease-causing organisms.
What should I do? What does this mean?
- 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.
- Turbidity has no health effects, however, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches.
- The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. People at increased risk should seek advice from their healthcare providers about drinking the water.
For more information, please contact Tony Sanders at 270-597-2165 or P.O. Box 208 Brownsville, KY 42210. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
