A boil water notice is in effect as of Wednesday afternoon for customers in two municipalities served by the Bellefonte Borough Water Authority .
The authority’s customers in the Borough of Bellefonte and Spring Township must boil water first or use bottled water for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation, according to the notice. (The notice does not apply to Spring Township residents served by the Spring Township Water Authority.)
Testing found that the water did not meet disinfection requirements. Samples collected on Wednesday showed a disinfectant residual concentration of .01. The required disinfectant residual concentration is .85.
The concentration has been restored to .85 and testing is being done.
Disinfectant residuals, according to the Environmental Protection agency, protect against microbial contaminants, act as an indicator of distribution system upset and limit growth of bacteria within the distribution system
Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms that can cause symptoms including as diarrhea, nausea, cramps and headaches, according to the Bellefonte notice.
“The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water,” the notice stated. “If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. Guardians of infants and young children and people at increased risk, such as pregnant women, some of the elderly and people with severely compromised immune systems, should seek advice from their health care advisors about drinking this water.”
