Entire Williams Bay water supply contaminated with high nitrite levels

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources put in place a “Do Not Drink” order to the residents of Williams Bay after tests of the water supply revealed elevated nitrite levels. The village is coordinating hand-outs of free cases of water at Williams Bay School until Sept. 1 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Starting Sept. 2, the times shift to 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. “We wouldn’t be coordinating the amount of water drop-offs if we didn’t say this was serious,” said Lt. William Kostock with the Williams Bay Police Department, and public information officer for Williams Bay.Kostock said the village was notified by the DNR on Monday of high nitrites in the water. “The DNR did some testing, notified the village. The village immediately did additional testing of their water. Those results were received late on, the 27th, and subsequently, the DNR No drink came out, which is when we notified the village and posted that order,” Kostock said. Steve Elmore, Director of the drinking water and groundwater program at the DNR, says they became aware of the issue after receiving information from the health department about two cases of blue baby syndrome.”After being diagnosed by a doctor with, effectively, blue baby syndrome, their children had a problem where their skin was turning blue. And it was traced back to the drinking water,” Elmore said. Elmore said the nitrite was developing in the water after it left the well.”After the well water was treated and sent out into the distribution system, that nitrite was being created. And that’s not something we regularly test for in the distribution system. We do test for nitrate at the wells, but if it’s created in the distribution system, that can go undetected. And that’s what happened here,” Elmore said.The DNR issued the order after tests revealed nitrite in the water and a level more than double what’s allowed.”They shouldn’t be drinking the tap water at this time,” Elmer said. “Because of the nitrite in it, but also, starting today, they’re increasing the chlorine dose in the water so that they can clean out those pipes.”Residents village-wide must switch to bottled water for drinking, cooking, even to brush their teeth.”It’s a little challenging, having four kids and it being pretty warm out,” Sarah Talbot, who lives in Williams Bay, said.”It was a big wow. Because I expected to be notified that this was going to is happening,” Grace Arbuckle said. “We didn’t get notification til probably Wednesday.”Arbuckle, concerned for her health, wishes she had known earlier about the water contamination. “When the water was testing, and see what the outcome was going to be, instead of just kind of leaving so many residents in the dark. I would have never known anything if it wasn’t for Facebook,” Arbuckle said. The village is currently running chlorine through its water system and working to flush the pipes. The DNR said more tests will be run next week, but that it could be a week, even two, before residents can drink from the tap. Officials say the two children with blue baby syndrome are expected to be OK. The DNR recommended anyone with concerning symptoms, like dizziness or blueness of the skin, to talk to their doctor. Top HeadlinesMissouri man guilty in $200,000 Kohl’s Cash fraud scheme across 13 statesOzaukee County homeowners can’t expect any help from FEMAParents demand changes after fatal school bus incident in SussexWATCH Former Milwaukee Tool employee faces multiple charges in $1M theft