The Onondaga County Health Dept. issued a BOIL WATER ORDER for some areas – residences and businesses – in the Town of DeWitt on Friday, September 18th. As of late Wednesday September 23rd, construction work to remediate the water issue was completed; three chlorine injection systems are now installed at three different locations; these will ensure recommended levels of chlorine – to prevent the growth of bacteria – are injected into the water coming from the City of Syracuse into the Town water system.
The problematic areas in the Town where coliforms –which can indicate the presence of bacteria – were detected, receive City of Syracuse water. The Town of DeWitt purchases water from OCWA for the north side of DeWitt and also Jamesville, and from the City of Syracuse for the remaining central portion of the Town.
“As of this morning (Thursday) we began collecting water samples to determine if there are appropriate levels of chlorine flowing from the three new chlorine injection sites,” commented Town of DeWitt Supervisor Ed Michalenko. He added, “When our sampling confirms safe levels of chlorine, we will send samples to the lab, which then takes 24-48 hours to confirm the findings. The County requires a series of two acceptable test results from the lab in order to resume water services, so we are looking to resume water service in the next two or three days.”
“We have been posting in-depth details and updates each day on our town website; we encourage residents, businesses, and the media to use the website as a valuable source of timely information as we navigate not only this challenge, but a rapidly changing, increasingly challenging world; we want the community to know their local government is here for them,” said Michalenko.
The Town is also flushing hydrants in affected areas and working with area business offices and office complexes, requesting they flush water systems in their building(s).
The unusual confluence of hotter summer weather and stagnant water – due to low use/low occupancy as a result of the COVID-19 virus – in Town office buildings was the source of the water issue. Please see the Town’s website for detailed information and updates.
