Linnippi Village residents want their clean water back; relief may be on the way

WAYNE TOWJNSHIP, PA – The residents on several streets in Linnippi Village in Wayne Township have not been able to drink their tap water since June 27 and they are getting increasingly upset.

City of Lock Haven water customers on Cochise Trail, Geronimo Trail and Hiawatha Trail remain on a boil water edict since previously announced work on a disinfectant system at the nearby water filtration plant was carried out.

The Record contacted City Hall to see when an all-clear might be given for water use. According to the City Public Works Director Tony Stopper, the go-ahead to drink the water could come as soon as this week; all that is needed is two days of successful water test results and Stopper said the city is waiting to get the readings from this week’s Monday and Tuesday checks.

City Manager Greg Wilson earlier this week provided The Record some background on the situation. He said the affected waterline customers were notified that there would be a planned power outage by PPL on June 27. This was, he said, to check on the UV disinfectant system at the filtration plant.

He said those customers were directed that they should not use water during the outage because it would cause a loss of positive pressure in the line, increasing the likelihood that microbial contamination would take place.

According to the city manager, because there was possibly a loss of positive pressure, the city did the testing of the water as required by the state Department of Environmental Protection after the June 27 outage. “Obviously, not everyone heeded the warning and people did use water during the outage because microbial contamination, specifically coliform and e-coli, was present when the test came back,” Wilson said.

He said DEP requires two tests that are negative for the presence of microbial contamination to permit the boil water advisory to be lifted. “We have consistently taken samples, even changed sampling locations, and submitted those samples to Pace in Williamsport for testing. However, the tests continue to come back with the presence of coliform and/or e-coli.”

Per the city manager, the city’s Department of Public Works has been in contact with DEP because it is unusual for the water to continue to test positive for microbial contamination.

Stopper on Wednesday provided an updated report, “We spoke with our DEP rep and he was also baffled as we are obtaining the correct chlorine residuals that counteract the bad bacteria in drinking water. That is what the chlorine is put into the system for, to kill off bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Our plan of attack was to flush the system on Monday and resample them and again on Tuesday as we need two consecutive samples to pass. The city’s Water Foreman just called the laboratory supervisor for where we send our samples and he said that he did not hear Monday’s test to fail and is waiting on Tuesday’s results. Again, we need both samples to pass to lift the boil advisory. This procedure is not only to follow DEP guidelines but for the protection and health of city customers.”