Residents of Decatur County received a warning this week from the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office to boil their water before consuming it.
The notice said due to a recent drop in water pressure until further notice, residents would be advised to run their water through a clean cloth to remove any sediment or floating material, and to bring the water to a rolling boil for at least a minute to ensure the disinfection. A hand-written addendum advised the precautions stay in place “until further notice.”
The Sheriff also posted that the Decatur EMA was handing out water Monday.
The notice added that the Tennessee Environment and Conservation, Division of Water Resources in the Jackson Environmental Field and Office, and Nashville, Tennessee have been made aware of the situation. The group is in charge of managing, protecting, and enhancing the quality of the state’s water resources through voluntary, regulatory, and educational programs.
The CDC reported that while the United States has one of the safest drinking water supplies in the world, sources of drinking water are always subject to contamination. The more common forms of contamination are naturally occurring chemicals and minerals, local land-use practices, manufacturing processes, and sewer overflows or wastewater releases.
The CDC added, “The presence of contaminants in water can lead to adverse health effects, including gastrointestinal illness, reproductive problems, and neurological disorders.” Some forms of contaminants could cause illness in infants, pregnant women, and those with compromised illnesses.
From 1971 – 2010, the top 10 outbreaks in water systems were Giardia, Legionella, Norovirus, Shigella, Campylobacter, Copper, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, Cryptosporidium, and a tie between E. coli and excess fluoride.
The CDC shared a guide for the different types of filtration systems that could be installed in homes. It explained the different levels of effectiveness in microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis systems, distillation systems, ultraviolet treatment systems, and water softeners.
The CDC explained that households can both install point of use or point of entry water treatments. Point of use are usually added to single faucets, and point of entry are installed after the water meter.
Residents looking for more information were advised to contact the North Utility District of Decatur & Benton Co.
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Morgan Nicole Veysey is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Boiling Water” by Ivan Bandura. CC BY 2.0.
