Customers of the Stone Bridge Fire District water system should boil their water before drinking it, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) said Nov. 9. A water main break on the evening of Nov. 8 near William Barton Drive and Bulgarmarsh Road in Tiverton cut water pressure in part of the system.
The advisory is a precaution. RIDOH's notice does not say bacteria have been found. It says the district issued the notice to the entire system out of an abundance of caution.
What customers are told to do
RIDOH says all water used for consumption should be boiled vigorously for at least one minute. That covers drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and preparing food. Bottled water is an alternative.
Infants and young children should not be bathed in the water because they may swallow it. Anyone showering or bathing should avoid swallowing water. RIDOH is also sending guidance to restaurants and other food establishments in the area.
When the advisory ends
The district has repaired the break and is disinfecting the system by raising chlorine levels within safe limits. RIDOH says customers should keep boiling water until the district finishes disinfecting, flushes the pipes and collects one day of routine samples from locations representative of the whole system, and those samples are free of bacteria.
RIDOH says an announcement will be made when the advisory is lifted, and the district will alert customers directly. The notice gives no expected end date and does not say how many customers or properties are on the system.
RIDOH says anyone on the system with diarrhea plus any of these should call a health care provider: fever over 101.5 degrees F, blood in the stool, prolonged vomiting that prevents keeping liquids down, signs of dehydration, or diarrheal illness lasting more than three days. If the water becomes contaminated, RIDOH says, infants, young children and people with severely weakened immune systems are at special risk. Questions go to the Stone Bridge Fire District at 508-676-3526. The system's public water system ID is RI1615619.
