Boil water advisory shuts down food establishments across nine CT towns

(WFSB) -The mandatory boil water order was lifted for all customers on the shoreline around 4:15 p.m. on Saturday after E. coli was detected during routine testing, according to Connecticut Water.

Prior to this, thousands of Connecticut Water Company customers across nine towns entered a second day under a boil water advisory after bacteria was detected in a water sample in Essex, according to Connecticut Water Company and local officials.

Tap water in the affected towns could only be used for bathing and laundry. The Connecticut River Health District ordered all food establishments using tap water to close until further notice.

The nine affected towns were Deep River, Essex, Haddam, Chester, Old Saybrook, Madison, Guilford, Westbrook, and Clinton.

Free water available at three locations

Connecticut Water Company deployed portable water tankers at three locations.

Residents could bring their own containers, with a limit of five gallons per person. Tanker locations are:

• John Winthrop Middle School — Essex
• Westbrook Fire Department — Westbrook
• Madison Commuter Lot — off Interstate 95, Madison

Each tanker held more than 6,000 gallons of clean drinking water.

Residents respond

Westbrook resident Zach Williams was among those who showed up at a tanker site — bringing water not just for himself but for his dog, Oscar.

“At first, I was shocked, you know. How could this even happen,” Williams said.

“We don’t want to get sick. We don’t want our pets to get sick either. So it’s very important,” he said.

Private wells unaffected

Homes with private wells were not impacted by the advisory.

John Palmero, Westbrook’s director of emergency management, said well water remains safe.

“You are getting water from the water table in the ground, which the ground is sand and everything else is a natural cleaning system. It filtrates the water as it goes through, and that is how you end up with clean water,” Palmero said.