Clinton water department says water had come back clean 'until Wednesday'

CLINTON, Ill. (WAND) — The city of Clinton addressed water sampling concerns on Thursday after a boil order was issued Wednesday.

According to a news release from the city, there was a miscommunication to residents regarding the timeline of water samples provided to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

"There was miscommunication in offices, we stated that the sample was taken Monday, January 6th when it was in fact taken Tuesday, January 7th. The City of Clinton provided the Illinois EPA with a monthly sampling Tuesday, January 7th. We were then notified Wednesday, January 8th that those samplings failed, and the public was notified immediately. Thursday, January 9th the Illinois EPA has been provided with the retest samplings. The results from those samples should be in within 24/48 hours, we then will await further instruction from the Illinois EPA."

Clinton Water Commissioner John Wise said that the test failure was an unprecedented situation. "There was bacteria in the water in those samples. And all five failed, which is kind of odd because we never have an entire grouping fail. We take samples twice a month for the EPA to make sure the water quality," Wise explained. "We have not had a failed sample or a whole group of failed samples for, for probably decades. We've had that a couple of times in my entire career with the city. But it's very, very seldom and usually there is a reason for it."

Regarding the yellowish tint and sulfurous smell some residents have complained about, the city said that the issue was caused by the lime softening system being offline for two weeks. The system was repaired and brought back in use on Jan. 3, but it "may take a week or two to fully flush out all of the high iron water with the properly treated lime softened water."

Commissioner Wise said the two issues were separate problems, and the system had had no previous effect on the water. "Every sample had came back clean and fresh, and everything was good with the water until Wednesday."

The city of Clinton Water Department and the Illinois Rural Water Association are "working expeditiously" and the city said it will keep the community aware as notifications come in from the IL EPA.