The Store at Five Corners and other South Williamstown businesses continue to be closed in light of a contaminated water supply. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) issued a boil water order for South Williamstown residents reliant on the Waubeeka Spring water supply on Oct. 10 due to contamination of the water source by E. coli and total coliform, according to the MassDEP Drinking Water Program website. The boil water order requires that any tap water used for human consumption must be heated to a rolling boil for one minute, or that individuals use bottled water.
Until the order is lifted, the Store at Five Corners is closed and Green River Farm will stop washing and cleaning their eggs with tap water, according to Lecturer in Environmental Studies Sarah Gardner.
Waubeeka Spring is a community water supply for some South Williamstown residents and — like the municipal water supply — is regularly tested by MassDEP for health assurance and public safety.
The Store at Five Corners will remain closed indefinitely until the contamination is addressed, according to a Facebook post from the business. In addition to suspending food service, the store also canceled two music events last week.
E. coli in the Waubeeka Spring water supply is likely the product of an external cause, such as contamination, explained Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, Emeritus, Dept. of Geosciences Professor Emeritus David Dethier. “[The presence of E. coli] in water usually suggests contamination by waste,” he wrote in an email to the Record.
According to Dethier, the contamination of Waubeeka Spring is unlikely to spread to other water sources in Town. “Most homes near the water line are fed by the springs and bacterial contamination tends to decrease as water passes through soil materials.”
Gardner echoed Dethier, explaining that the water system’s structure makes it unlikely for the issue to spread.
“The town water supply is from a confined aquifer with a clay cap,” Gardner explained. “It’s this impermeable layer, so it’s very, very clean. And E. coli is coming from some surface contamination.”
As of Tuesday evening, MassDEP had not announced a reason for the contamination. While some E. coli issues are resolved without external interference, many require further attendance, according to Dethier. “In those cases, you ‘shock’ the well/pipes with a bleach compound and flush it out, then resample following a state-required protocol to make sure that all the water delivery points were free of contamination,” he wrote.
The Town health inspector did not respond to the Record’s request for comment.
“Sometimes it is pretty difficult to find the origin of the bacterial contamination,” Dethier wrote. “[Let’s] hope that is not the case for Waubeeka!”
