NBC 10 investigation prompts action on Prudence Island's water treatment project

A seven-year boil water advisory on Prudence Island prompted by a positive E. coli sample is finally getting a permanent fix, months after the NBC 10 I-Team investigated delays by the Department of Health.

Prudence Island Water District Moderator Robin Weber said a contactor has been hired and the funding has been approved for a chlorination system and an iron-manganese pre-treatment system.

“We were recently awarded and closed on a loan with the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank for a whopping $3,887,450, so we are in a position now where we can fund the project,” Weber said.

The pricey project won’t cost Prudence Island water customers a dime.

The Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank, or RIIB, approved a $3.8 million loan with principal forgiveness for a five-year period.

WATER WOES

Water issues on Prudence Island began in 2018, when a water sample from the island’s main storage tank tested positive for E. coli and total coliform, triggering a boil water advisory.

What Weber initially thought would be a simple issue to fix turned into years of back and forth with the state from evolving consent orders with the Department of Health.

As an initial course of action, every resident on the island installed backflow preventers to ensure water was moving in one direction and not causing contamination, a 21-month process.

When that failed to fix the issue, the Department of Health ordered the installation of a chlorination system.

Worried about water quality issues from chlorination, the Prudence Island Water District, or PIWD, signed another amended consent order in September 2021, which required the installation of an iron-manganese pre-treatment system.

Preliminary engineering plans for the project were submitted to the Department of Health in December 2021, but it took the department 16 months to finish the review.

A third amended consent order was signed in June 2022 to reflect delays in the timeline, followed by the submission of an environmental assessment in November 2022, which took the Department of Health 20 months to complete.

In an interview with the NBC 10 I-Team last year, the Department of Health acknowledged the delays, blaming staffing shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Months after our report aired, Weber said the process finally started to move along.

“We were not really getting any response, so I do attribute our success in a short seven months and getting this done really to NBC 10,” Weber said.

NEXT STEPS

The ongoing delays have caused the cost of the project to jump significantly over the years.

The initial $603,000 estimate for the installation has climbed to $3.8 million, which is nearly $1 million more than when our first report aired.

Weber says the contractor selected for the installation of a chlorination system and iron-manganese treatment system will receive the signed documents this week.

The water district can then present a notice to proceed, which will give the contractor 400 days to start and finish the project.

Weber tells the I-Team that the project should be completed in fall of 2026.

From there, the PIWD will conduct testing to ensure the island’s water meets Department of Health guidelines.

If all goes as planned, the island’s seven-year boil water advisory will finally come to an end.