Utility tells 6 Montco towns to boil water

Pennsylvania American Water instructed 18,000 customers in six Montgomery County towns Tuesday night to boil water for human consumption after water supplies ran low because of problems at its Norristown treatment plant.

Customers in East Norriton, West Norriton, Lower Providence, Whitpain, Worcester, and Whitemarsh Townships were told to boil water as a precaution after some parts of the utility's system ran dry. When water systems lose pressure, bacteria can enter. Boiling the water destroys the pathogens.

Early Tuesday, the utility issued a mandatory conservation notice to 31,000 households in Norristown and nine surrounding towns to reduce demand on the Norristown plant, which was struggling to cope with cloudy Schuylkill water. Nevertheless, some storage tanks emptied late Tuesday and pressure was lost, said Terry Maenza, a spokesman for the utility.

The utility was delivering tankers of water to hospitals, and neighboring water systems had opened up interconnections with the Pennsylvania American system to lend assistance, Maenza said. "Some areas are completely out of water," he said.

A boil-water notice is a serious inconvenience to customers and will be in effect for several days. Once the utility restores full operations at its treatment plant and pressure is restored to the system, state law requires 48 hours of tests to verify the purity of the water before the advisory can be lifted.

Pennsylvania American blamed recent rains for stirring up sediment in the river, which has affected the plant's ability to filter out the cloudiness. "Our people at the plant have never seen anything like this," Maenza said.

Customers in Norristown, Bridgeport, and Upper Merion, Plymouth, and Perkiomen Townships remained under a conservation order last night.

Under the conservation notice, customers should limit water use to essential purposes, such as sanitation and personal hygiene. Customers are asked to refrain from using water for laundry, washing dishes, watering lawns and gardens, and washing cars.

Maenza said there was no estimate of when the treatment issues will be resolved and the plant can return to normal operations.

Philadelphia Water Department operations, which draw about half of the city's water from the Schuylkill, have not been affected, said Joanne Dahm, a department spokeswoman.

Municipal treatment plants allow particulates in raw river water to settle in tanks before the water passes through sand filters. The water is also chemically disinfected before distribution.

Pennsylvania American's Norristown Plant on West Washington Street is rated to treat 18 million gallons of water a day, according to the company's website. On average, it treats about 10.5 million gallons a day, Maenza said.