BURLINGTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Residents in Burlington will be asked to boil their water before drinking it until further notice after E. Coli was detected, officials said.
The mandatory boil water order was issued by town officials after contaminated water was found in three of 11 water sample sites on Wednesday.
Residents and business owners should bring the water to a rolling boil for at least a minute before use to kill any bacteria or use bottled water for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, and washing dishes until further notice.
“I want to apologize for the inconvenience we’re causing our residents and our business community,” said DPW Director John Sanchez. “We’re making every effort to find the source and correct it as soon as we can, at this time however, we don’t know the source of that contamination.”
This all comes ahead of the Friday night dinner rush at the Chateau, located along the Middlesex Turnpike, where workers are doing everything they can to avoid using town water. Ice has been driven up from nearby Brookline, liters of soda have been purchased from the grocery store next door and jugs of water line the back rooms.
“Been boiling water all day, basically,” General Manager Matt Brown said.
With more than 250 food service businesses in Burlington, restaurants say they have no choice, but to make it work.
“We’re used to it at this point, we’re just rolling with the punches, taking it one day at a time, that’s all we can do,” Brown said.
E. Coli can make people sick and the bacteria is especially concerning for infants, young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.
Symptoms of E. Coli poisoning include diarrhea, cramps, nausea, jaundice, headaches, and fatigue.
Officials in Burlington say the cause of the contamination is not yet clear.
For more information, contact Russ Makiej at 781-270-1648 or rmakiej@burlington.org.
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