No need to boil water anymore in Montco

Officials lifted the boil-water advisory for six Montgomery County municipalities Friday after a second round of tests revealed no sign of contaminants.

"We're very pleased," said Terry Maenza, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania American Water Co.

As a precaution, the company had advised about 18,000 customers since Tuesday to boil any water before drinking it or using it to wash dishes. That came after the company experienced a loss in positive water pressure in the distribution system at its Norristown plant, which increased the risk of contamination.

Customers were affected in East Norriton, West Norriton, Lower Providence, Whitpain, Worcester, and Whitemarsh Townships. At least 150 restaurants were forced to close their doors in the meantime.

The company said that recent rains stirred up sediment in the Schuylkill and that the plant could not filter the water fast enough. Unlike many other local plants, the Norristown treatment center processes all material in the water on site and does not discharge water back into the river, which meant that after the recent rainfall, storage tanks filled up faster than the water could be processed.

Samples of the water revealed no sign of bacteria earlier this week, and a second set of clean test results cleared the way for the utility to lift the advisory.

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