Scituate's boil order, lifted Nov. 1, followed an E. coli violation, and the town says warning calls reached only some homes

Scituate's boil water order is over, and no new one is in effect. MassDEP lifted it Sunday, Nov. 1, and the town's Water Division told customers in a notice sent Nov. 13 that "it is no longer necessary to boil water before use." MassDEP's statewide list of active drinking water orders showed no order for Scituate on Sunday, Nov. 15.

The same notice lays out what led to the two-day order, a violation of the state's E. coli drinking water standard. Town Administrator James Boudreau told the Select Board on Tuesday, Nov. 10, that the town had "not found" what caused the contamination.

The town also says the automated reverse 911 calls meant to warn residents on Oct. 30 reached only some homes. In written answers to residents' questions posted Nov. 9, the town said the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office, which sends reverse 911 calls for Scituate, reported a "technical issue" on its end and that the problem has been fixed. Boudreau told the board the reverse 911 system "did not work" for many residents.

What the testing found

The notice, required by the state Department of Environmental Protection, gives the timeline:

• On Tuesday, Oct. 27, the Water Division took routine samples from the distribution system. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, New England Testing Laboratory, a state certified lab, reported that two of them were positive for total coliform and for E. coli.
• That day the town flushed hydrants near the positive samples and ran them overnight, raised the chlorine level at its wells and lowered water levels in its storage tanks to make room for more heavily chlorinated water. On Thursday, Oct. 29, it turned on its surface water treatment plant to add more chlorine.
• Six repeat samples taken Oct. 29 came back Friday, Oct. 30. Five were positive for total coliform but had no E. coli. Seven samples from the wells that had been running showed no E. coli.
• Positive repeat samples after an E. coli positive routine sample amount to an E. coli maximum contaminant level violation, the notice says. MassDEP told the town at 10:45 a.m. Oct. 30 that a boil water order was required and issued it that day.

The order covered Scituate Water Division customers. It did not cover Humarock customers, who get their water directly from the Marshfield Water Department.

The town then took two rounds of 22 samples from across the system on Oct. 30 and Oct. 31. All were clean except one sample of raw water from Well 17A, taken before disinfection, which tested positive for total coliform but not E. coli. MassDEP verbally lifted the boil requirement at 8:36 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1.

Because of the violation, the town must send MassDEP a more detailed review of its system, called a Level 2 Assessment, by Nov. 26. The notice says the town is still flushing its water mains.

The town's written answers say later testing and system checks pointed to an issue that was "isolated and recent," with no sign of long-term trouble in the system before the routine sampling.

What residents can do now

When the order was lifted, the town passed along MassDEP guidance that people with water filters, whole house or in the refrigerator, change them. The town said that is recommended but not required. Residents with concerns may also flush their household lines, the town said, running cold water faucets until the water feels cold for a minute or more and hot water faucets for at least 15 minutes, or longer depending on the size of the hot water tank.

The town's website links to Smart911, the Plymouth County sign-up for emergency alerts, and to its own Notify Me email lists.

The warning calls

Boudreau said the town drafted a message for the reverse 911 system around 1 p.m. on Oct. 30 and sent it to the sheriff's office, and the town got confirmation that the call went out at 2:18 p.m. Reports soon came in that some people had been called and others had not. A second call went out early that evening, the town said in its written answers, "with the same results."

Town public safety officials worked with the sheriff's department to find the cause, Boudreau told the board, and the county told the town the problem is fixed. He said the town still needs people to sign up.

The town plans to put sign-up flyers with QR codes in its water bills and to run a test of the system with Plymouth County, probably in early January, after the first round of bills goes out. The town has also lined up a second way to reach people, an alert system available through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and FEMA that can send messages to cell phones in a set area, though its use is restricted. Boudreau said it could be used for a boil water order and to warn people in areas expected to flood.

One board member asked why the system is not tested on a regular schedule, and the answer from town staff was, "We're going to have to do that now."

Why no earlier warning

A resident asked the board why the town did not put out a precautionary notice after the first positive test on Oct. 28, before the order. Boudreau said a first result can be a false positive or a bad test, so the town waits for confirmation before telling residents there is E. coli in the water. The town's written answers say the same: first samples can be thrown off by sampling errors, container contamination or lab handling, state rules require confirmation samples before a boil order, and the decision to order boiling is MassDEP's, not the town's. Another official at the table told the board the town calls MassDEP as soon as the lab calls, and from then on follows the state's direction on notices.

Boudreau thanked the water, public works, police and fire departments and the town's Community Emergency Response Team. The town handed out almost 3,000 cases of bottled water on Saturday, Oct. 31, the day after the order, according to its Nov. 1 update.

Questions about the notice go to the Scituate Water Department, 781-545-8735 or water@scituatema.gov.

Label: Reported by us.