LISBON — After last month’s Do Not Drink order, some residents still feel uncertain about town water as Lisbon Water Department officials continue to work on aging infrastructure, maintain water quality and improve its notification procedure.

On Aug. 29, the Water Department issued a Do Not Drink order after contaminated backwash water had entered the water system when a backwash basin level sensor failed, according to interim General Manager Shellie Reynolds. The order was lifted late the next day. The concern was that water with elevated arsenic levels had entered the system and reached people’s homes.

Water quality test results received the next day showed no elevated arsenic levels in the water sampled on Aug. 29. There were also no reports of illness related to the possible arsenic exposure that prompted the Do Not Drink order, according to a news release by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued the department a violation notice because of the accidental release of sludge and the lack of notification about the issue to the state’s Drinking Water Program.

Water Department customer Carla Lauter said she reported brown water Aug. 24, the Saturday before the Do Not Drink order was issued. She was told that the department would flush the lines the following day and to run the water for a period of time before using it but it was otherwise safe. By the following day, her water issue had cleared up.

There were more customer complaints of dirty water Aug. 28, the day before the Do Not Drink order was issued, according to the Water Department’s Facebook page. The department flushed hydrants in the area of Poplar Circle, Spring Street and Farwell Mill.

On the morning of Aug. 29, the department issued a statement on Facebook stating in part that the water was safe to drink and use, only to issue the Do Not Drink order later in the day, which was also posted on its Facebook page.

The contradicting messages eroded Lauter’s trust in the department, she said. Now she wonders if the brown water she experienced the weekend before the Do Not Drink order was issued was safe or if there might have been elevated arsenic levels in that water.

“And now it’s hard to trust anything that they say,” she said. “Not that I’m inherently distrustful but when you get two completely opposite messages, with no explanation within hours of each other that really puts people on edge, especially when it’s about things like lead and the safety of their water.”

There was no evidence of any other recent arsenic contamination released into the drinking water distribution system around the time when the Do Not Drink order was issued, Reynolds said Sept. 11 in an email response to Sun Journal questions.

However, Lauter is taking no chances with her baby and dog – giving them only bottled water while she continues to drink the tap water.

Sludge test samples taken from one area of the water treatment tank showed elevated levels of arsenic, containing 35,400 parts per billion of arsenic, according to a Sept. 6 news release issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. That is far higher than the federal 10 parts per billion limit allowed in drinking water.

However, the news release states that those results do not represent the arsenic levels in the water on the day of the release, Aug. 29.

Lauter still has many unanswered questions, along with many more who took to Facebook to share their concerns and ongoing struggles with water quality in their homes in the weeks following the incident.

Some department customers on Facebook have complained about brown water, while others have complained about a bad smell coming from their water.

During a Sept. 17 Town Council meeting, councilors discussed the need for the town and the department to work together to resolve water issues, instead of working as separate entities.

Councilor and Water Commission liaison Raymond Robishaw said the department is still working through issues, adding that he hoped someday the department will be managed as a town department instead of a separate entity. For now, he wants the town to assist the department in whatever it can so issues are resolved for customers.

“I just feel like whatever we can do to make this move forward so we can make the citizens feel more comfortable that we’re doing what we can to make sure that situations that occurred don’t happen again,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s anybody’s fault but I think there just needs to be improvement.”

Councilor Fern Larochelle also wants the town and the department to work as a team to resolve the issues instead of as two different entities, he said. He suggested that Town Manager Glenn Michalowski draft a letter to the department to invite discussions with them about its plan on how it will improve present issues and how the council can help.

The water issues bring to light the discussions he’s had over the years about the operational structure of the water department. Some people have approached him about it and do not understand that it is not managed by the town, he said.

Councilor Normand Albert suggested that a workshop with the department be scheduled. Council Chairman Harry Moore Jr. suggested that councilors tour the water plant so they can better understand the treatment process.

Communication concerns

Lauter is concerned about what she saw as a communication issue when the department rolled out the Do Not Drink order, she said.

She was notified of the Do Not Drink order through social media, members of the Water Department did not go door to door or provide a notification through the mail, which made her concerned about how residents who do not frequent the internet or do not have access to it at all would be notified.

It was not until several hours after the Do Not Drink order was issued that an emergency notification was sent to customers’ cellphones, which is not soon enough, she said.

The department only has one water department operator and it is currently seeking a new general manager.

When a Do Not Drink order is issued, a water department must “appropriately” notify customers “as soon as possible” but not more than 24 hours after the order is issued, according to information on the state’s Division of Environmental and Community Health website.

The notification can be made through radio, TV, daily newspaper, email or other electronic methods and public address methods if hand delivering notifications is impractical, according to information on the state’s website.

Ongoing issues

Since the beginning of this year there have been at least four separate water main line repairs reported by the department on its Facebook page, with two separate Boil Water Orders issued relating to those breaks. Those Boil Water Orders were lifted shortly after they were issued.

In 2023, there were seven water main line breaks reported by the department on its Facebook page. There was a low pressure, no water issue in some areas of Lisbon Falls on April 17, 2023, according to information on the department’s Facebook page. There was a water leak affecting customers on Fillion Street on April 25, 2023.

There was a reported dirty water issue in Lisbon Falls, resulting in a main line flush, according to the department’s Aug. 11, 2023, Facebook post.

Lines are flushed in the spring and fall to maintain them. Flushing helps to remove loose deposits, scour pipe surface and provide many other benefits, according to information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The department’s water infrastructure has about 40 miles of pipes, Reynolds said in an email Friday. The water system was constructed more than 100 years ago but parts of its infrastructure are newer, installed as recently as 2023, whereas other parts of the infrastructure are more than 100  years old.

Piping installed after World War II up until the 1970s has a high failure rate according to information in a referendum notice from 2019.

The most recent upgrade to the department’s infrastructure was a Main Street water main line replacement completed almost a year ago costing $1.6 million, Reynolds said. With more than 2,500 customers, the water department is considered a large system by state standards.

“Upgrades to the system are an ongoing part of the industry and we have several projects in various stages,” she said.

Reynolds did not elaborate on specific improvement projects Friday. However, she did state that the system and customers have infrastructure with lead concerns that needs to be replaced. The department is in the process of completing the mandated Lead Service Line Inventory report, which will inform department staff of necessary improvements. That report is due Oct. 16.

“The process is ongoing over the next several years to remedy the issue,” she added.

There are four gravel packed wells that the department can draw water from, however only two of them are being actively used, she said. Those wells are sourced from three different aquifers.

Last year, one water quality test result showed elevated arsenic levels, with 15 parts per billion, above the 10 parts per billion federal threshold, according to information in the 2023 Consumer Confidence Report. That test sample came from one of the town’s wells but it was not the well at the treatment plant, Reynolds said. That well remains inactive.

“The well had been shut down for routine maintenance and inspection and went through an extensive cleaning and flushing process,” she said. “Prior to activating that well again we took samples to ensure the quality. The result of that test showed some elevated levels of normal occurring contaminants including arsenic which could have been caused by the cleaning and flushing process.

“… Because the Consumer Confidence Report reflects the entire system results as one and not each individual well it may be perceived that the entire system had exceeded the limit.”

Coliform test results have also been high in some of the previous Annual Consumer Reports over the last roughly decade but Reynolds said it is not uncommon to get positive coliform results in public water systems.

“… This is an indicator organism for other bacteria,” she said. “If there is a positive result, we retest the location to be sure that it was not just a compromised sample the first time. This can happen very easily by mishandling the cover, spigot or container. We work closely with the Maine Drinking Water Program and the Maine CDC to ensure the distribution water is safe.”

More questions

As a result of the accidental sludge release, the state is requiring the department to hire an engineering firm to evaluate the treatment system and improve process controls to prevent it from happening again. The department will conduct additional arsenic testing more frequently for the rest of the year.

However, Reynolds hopes that the department’s water operator’s quick work to isolate the dirty water, flush the system and respond to calls of dirty water, along with other actions, can help people feel more assured, she said.

While the department waited for water quality results, two licensed water operators from the Maine Rural Water Association and the system inspector from the Maine Drinking Water Program met with department staff at the filtration facility and developed a plan of action on how to address the immediate issue, she said.

“They agreed that we would immediately stop reclaiming the decant water from the backwash basin to start, and then add turbidity meters to monitor the clarity of the water prior to entering the distribution system,” she said. “Therefore, eliminating the risk in the future. This will produce an increased cost but is an immediate improvement to ensure we are providing safe clean drinking water.

“Finally, on Friday we received test results that stated the arsenic level was at a safe level and the water was safe to drink and use which reinforced that our standard procedure concerning dirty water was successful at protecting our customers.”

Lauter still doesn’t understand why the department reversed course so quickly, going from telling people the water is safe the morning of Aug. 29 and then issuing a Do Not Drink order late that afternoon, she said.

Her most pressing unanswered questions lie with testing requirements, she still does not know when the department is required to test dirty water and when it is not. Having a better understanding of when and why they test the water and when customers can expect those tests to be conducted could help address concerns.

“I just don’t feel like they’ve done enough to address going forward, how they’re going to operate in a similar situation,” she said.

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