HERMANN – The city of Hermann on Monday began its second week of residents and business people operating under a water boil order. City Hall was hoping the order could be lifted Monday afternoon.

The boil water order was issued last Monday, Aug. 24, after a sample taken at one residence showed E. Coli bacteria. City Administrator Patricia Heaney noted in her report during last Monday’s session of the Hermann Board of Aldermen, that the sample was hand-delivered that day by a city employee to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources as a way to expedite what was hoped would be a short-lived boil order.

To lift the boil order, a second clean sample had to be obtained from the residence. But while city officials were waiting for the state agency to test that sample, calls came in from other residents worried that their water might be contaminated, which prompted samples being taken at those residences.

On Thursday, Heaney told the Gasconade County Republican that all the water samples taken from the original residence and from the homes of those who called with concerns were deemed to be clean. “All five samples from yesterday are clean,” Heaney said.

As a way to ensure no contamination in the water system, city crews got busy quickly.

“We did a bunch of flushing of (fire) hydrants,” Heaney said. The city also drained its water tanks and refilled them with fresh water.

The residence that produced the E. Coli sample can not be isolated, Heaney explained, because the city’s water system is an integrated system. To isolate one residence by capping a water line would be a big undertaking, she explained.

On Friday, Heaney said the boil order was kept in place because of something else found in a water sample –a bacteria called BAC-T, usually one that doesn’t raise eyebrows. But, she added, because it was found shortly after the E. Coli was discovered, DNR officials felt it best to take additional samples before giving the city the all-clear. And that meant more days of residents and businesses inconvenienced by the boil order while city employees do the water system reviews called for by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources..

“They’ve gone above and beyond,” Heaney said of the city workers. “My team has been amazing. They all feel terrible (about) what it’s putting the community through.”

City Hall office staff were busy fielding calls from often-irate residents, upset that their daily routine has been disrupted by the boil order.

“Our girls here in the office have fielded hundreds of phone calls,” the city administrator said.

This past weekend, Public Works Department employees were checking chlorine levels at the water plants, Heaney said, pointing out that the city historically has kept chlorine levels at the lowest level possible within the range proscribed by the Department of Natural Resources. That agency ended the week wanting chlorine levels at a significantly higher amount in the water.

Heaney said City Hall is reluctant to raise the level too much because it would produce an odor and different tasting water. That, she said, likely would produce a rash of complaints from water customers.

The city administrator told The Republican that city officials were hoping to announce the lifting of the boil order by Monday afternoon.

“We have a conference call with DNR Monday afternoon,” Heaney said.

AN ISOLATED INCIDENT

The E. Coli contamination was found in only one residence, as pointed out by Heaney. How was the contamination discovered? Through a regular water sample check, Heaney explained. This home is one of several throughout the city that is tested regularly. Samples from the other test homes all came back clean, she said.

It’s unclear how the water sample was contaminated. But Dr. Michael Rothermich, chief of the medical staff at Hermann Area District Hospital, last Monday afternoon told the Board of Directors that the cause could be something as simple as a person preparing raw chicken at the kitchen sink and accidentally touching the faucet leaving bacteria that was dislodged when the water sample was routinely collected.

A FAR-REACHING EFFECT

The boil order affected not only all the city’s residents, but all businesses that rely on water, as well, for drinking and preparing beverages and food. Coffee makers and soda fountains were affixed with OUT OF ORDER signs. The city’s hospital, nursing home and assisted living center were faced with the extra step of boiling large pots of water and then cooling it down before using it for cooking and making beverages.

Drinking fountains were off-limits at the Gasconade County R-1 School District to students looking to fill their water bottles. The district purchased bottles of CORE water for the students during the duration of the boil order.

The inconvenience of the boil order on Casey’s convenience store on Market Street was compounded Thursday morning when early-morning customers looking for a breakfast sandwich were greeted with a sign on the door telling them the computers were down and sales couldn’t be rang up. The computer problem affected other Casey’s stores in the region, as well, store employees said.

Hermann-area residents looking for a cup of coffee last week wound up crossing the Missouri River and going to Marathon convenience store in McKittrick. On Thursday morning, several truckers hauling rock from local quarries to the data center sites in Montgomery County were parking their big rigs throughout the parking lot while they went inside to get their morning coffee.

The boil order boosted sales of bottled water at stores such as Village Market. “Oh, yeah,” said one employee when asked Monday if the store had sold a lot of water in the last week.

UPGRADES TO BE MADE

A prolonged disruption to the community such as this one was not at the forefront of planning for city officials, Heaney acknowledged.

“No one can remember the last time it’s happened here,” she said. What this incident means for city officials, she said, is that work will be done to prepare for a similar situation.

For instance, when the boil order was issued a week ago, the city issued an alert on CODE RED, the system designed to advise residents of severe weather and other emergencies. But, Heaney explained, the alert system didn’t work as it should have. She noted that while Hermann has about 1,500 water meters the alert went to only about 300 water customers. Look for the city to mount an effort to have more residents sign up for CODE RED alerts.

Also, with the usual spate of tourists headed to Hermann later in the week. Hermann Tourism Director Tammy Bruckerhoff was tasked with advising guesthouse owners about the boil order. Heaney said it’s hoped that the guesthouse owners – many if not most of whom live outside the area – informed their incoming guests not to use water from the tap. A better or more certain way to alert guesthouse owners might be among the changes that will be considered in the wake of this incident.