Coliform bacteria in base water resolved

  • Published
  • By 66th Medical Squadron Bioenvironmental Engineering
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  The base water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this is not an emergency, as customers, base personnel have a right to know what happened, what personnel should do, and what civil engineers are doing to correct this situation.

Civil Engineering routinely monitors for the presence of drinking water contaminants. Officials collected 15 samples in September to test for the presence of coliform bacteria. Of those, two samples showed the presence of total coliform bacteria. The standard is that no more than one sample per month may do so.

What should I do?
· People do not need to boil water or take other corrective actions. However, if residents have specific health concerns, consult a physician. 

· People with severely compromised immune systems, infants, and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

What does this mean?
This is not an emergency. If it had been residents would have been notified immediately. Coliform bacteria are generally not harmful themselves. Coliforms are bacteria which are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other potentially-harmful bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems.

Usually, coliforms are a sign that there could be a problem with the system's treatment or distribution system, such as pipes. When Civil Engineers detect coliform bacteria in a sample, follow-up tests for other bacteria of greater concern, such as fecal coliform or E. coli, are present. No other bacteria were found in subsequent testing.

What happened? What is being done?
Bioenvironmental Engineering let the water run from the faucets, the water was re-sampled and results were negative.

For more information, please contact Staff Sgt. James Caruso at 781-225-6366.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly. Base residents can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.