Testing continues after Germantown officials say water is safe - WREG NewsChannel 3

Testing continues after Germantown officials say water is safe

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Water testing continues in Germantown even though residents were told it’s now safe to use the water after a diesel fuel leak prevented water usage in Germantown for almost a week.

Another week and there are still no Germantown city officials, including the mayor, sitting down with TV cameras and explaining the latest in the water debacle. Instead, they sent out another social media post update Monday

Meanwhile, residents are trying to get back to normal with the water in their home. Some residents admit this is something no one has seen before and Germantown could have handled the information flow better.

“We don’t feel like they were real on top of things with keeping everyone informed,” said a resident we spoke to.

Even though the city says the water is safe, some residents still aren’t sure.

“I am still experiencing an odor and it just smells just like you would imagine it would smell. It smells like a diesel fuel odor,” the resident said.

WREG has learned some people in Germantown aren’t waiting around on the city or local water labs to provide answers.

Kate Wisialowski, the Chief Operating Officer of Tap Score, a water testing service out in California, said they have heard from some in Germantown wanting options for their own testing.

“We have seen a huge spike in the last, you know, week or two from folks in Germantown reaching out, saying, ‘Hey, this has happened near me. What do I do?'” said Kate Wisialowski,

For a fee that can range from as low as $50 to as high as in the thousands, Tap Score offers different water testing for all kinds of chemicals.

“Our reports will include things like how it compares to other averages in your state, how it compares to national averages, to public health goals,” Wisialowski said.

Wisialowski told us what would be included in reports for testing for diesel fuel like that contaminating Germantown’s water.

“The things that are really important, related to this spill are going to be things like Benzene, Toluene, Ethel benzene dialing, and then naphthalene. Those are common diesel related compounds and will be included in our voc, our vocal organic compounds test, or that advanced city test,” she said.

Tap Score also offers free reports on city water. To get a free report, click here.