Wellesley early on Saturday afternoon lifted the boil water order that went into effect on Thursday afternoon after town officials received notice of a positive E. coli test near Peirce Hill Reservoir on Thursday morning.
The town on Saturday wrote in its notice (shown in its entirety below) to residents that “investigation of the source of the positive E-coli test by Wellesley Water Department and Massachusetts Water Resource Authority personnel is continuing. While water samples from the Pierce Hill Reservoir have never tested positive for E-coli, the reservoir has been taken offline and is being drained to facilitate further inspection and cleansing. The water system in the area has been flushed extensively and further testing of the water has not yielded any further positive E-coli tests. Accordingly, the [Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection] has authorized the Town to lift the Boil Water Notice.
“We appreciate the inconvenience this incident has caused our residents and businesses, and
remain fully committed to ensuring the ongoing quality and safety of the Town’s water system.”
And to answer one question people have had: Wellesley Health Dept. has had some calls of concern about E. coli-related sickness but nothing that has been lab confirmed. If in fact someone does see their medical provider and they are tested and confirmed with Ecoli the town would receive notification from the Mass. Dept of Public Health, according to the Health Dept’s Lenny Izzo.
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Unanswered Questions:
Were the residents close to the well more exposed than other neighborhoods?
Are there any reports of people getting sick from the water?
Will the Water Dept modify our bills to reflect the 3 days that the water was not potable, forcing us to use expensive bottled water?
Why doesn’t the dry cycle of the dishwasher kill any bacteria?
Yes, Peirce is “ei”. It’s a Wellesley thing.
Thank god, WHAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED !!!!!