Fairhaven residents without clean water for more than 2 weeks
Fairhaven, Mass. (WLNE) – Residents in Fairhaven have been without clean water for more than 2 weeks after the town issued a boil water order due to bacteria in the water supply.
On October 6th, E Coli was detected in the Mattapoisett Water Treatment Plant. The nearby towns of Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Marion, and Rochester issued a boil water order while the Water Treatment Plant worked to chlorinate and disinfect the supply.
The last positive sample at the distribution system was on October 7th, and nearby towns have been able to slowly lift their boil water orders. However, Fairhaven remains the furthest town from the plant and recently detected trace amounts of coliform in samples, so the town has kept the order in effect out of public safety concern.
As the town works to fix the problem, residents tell ABC 6 News, it’s been a headache.
“I wake up and boil water. It takes almost a half hour to boil it. Then, it cools and I make my ice cubes and there’s a big pitcher of water I keep on the table. You know, it’s life,” resident Ellen Nelson said. “It’s been frustrating. I have to remember in the morning to dip my toothbrush in the glass of water in there and not under the faucet. Even realizing the dogs dish has to be filled with fresh water, the cat’s dish, and washing dishes makes me a little crazy.”
It’s the same frustration at Margaret’s café. On top of the added cleaning steps, there are added expenses.
“We’re spending about 100 bucks a day on ice and bottled drinks and bottled water to serve and we have two restaurants so that’s two times the effect that occurs,” employee Dianne Downey said.
The headache is being felt in every household from young to old. Residents in town are making sure their most vulnerable population gets the help they need.
Donations of water filling up inside the Senior Center and calls offering to help deliver to elderly residents are coming in left and right, according to Fairhaven Council on Aging Director Ann Silvia.
“I didn’t have funds at the COA to go out and buy water,” Silvia said. “Now, we have this really nice donation from a man in town named Leon Correy and we’re able to with our COA vans to the homebound folks that really don’t have the support that others might have.”
The Town of Fairhaven says the water treatment plant will continue to disinfect even after the boil water order is over. There are also plans in place to upgrade the facility to include a permanent disinfectant in the future.
For more information on the boil water order, visit: Boil Water Order Updated 10/20/2021 | Fairhaven MA (fairhaven-ma.gov)
