It was a tough start to the week in Mansfield where a boil water order is in effect for the entire town after traces of E. coli were recently found in the town’s drinking water and it will likely be off limits for days.
The bacteria was detected during routine testing at the Albertini water treatment facility. Town officials said as soon as the boil water alert went on, questions started pouring in about what is and is not safe.
“It’s OK to bathe. It’s OK to wash your hands. It’s just making sure you do not ingest the water,” Mansfield town manager Kevin Dumas said.
The town is giving out free cases of water to residents at the Department of Public Works during the emergency. Lisa Newhook waited in a line of cars to get some Monday.
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“It’s horrible and it’s scary too because you never know if you’re going to catch anything or what’s going to happen to you,” Newhook said.
Town officials hope to have the water cleared by Friday at the latest, but Mansfield is not alone. According to state data, parts of Rehoboth, Wilmington and Westport have all recently had E. coli outbreaks in drinking water. Mansfield’s water operations manager said the weather likely has something to do with it.
"We’ve been in a drought and early last week there was a lot of rain. Storm runoff could be a factor that caused this," manager Shawn Precourt said.
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For now, businesses like Cafe on the Common in Mansfield are learning to operate without safe drinking water. They do not have any ice or fountain soda, but they are boiling water to make everything else including coffee and pancakes.
"We’re getting crafty and after COVID we’re used to that," owner Diane Beatty said.
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