Update: Western Nassau County Water Authority's Response to Contamination

Update: As of about 6:45 p.m., the boil water alert is still in effect, Tierney said.

The Water Authority of Western Nassau County explained that the delayed notice about in a sample collected on July 18 was because of the time it takes to test the sample and Department of Health regulations, according to Superintendent Mick Tierney.

"Department of Health regulations regarding this notification require that the notice has to be hand delivered to each and every potentially effected residence," Tierney said.  "In this case the Department of Health demanded that we deliver this notice to our entire low zone which comprises 22,000 of the 28,000 customers we have. In addition, we were not allowed to begin delivery until such time that the Department of Health approved the language within the notification."

Tierney adds that though the samples were taken on July 18, it takes 18 hours to determine the results of the test. 

"Therefore we first heard word that there was an issue just before noon yesterday," he said, adding, "Accordingly we drafted up the notice and this took until approximately 6:30 last evening to get approval and go to the printer to make 22,000 copies.  We began printing copies internally as well and I placed every available man to deliver messages from 7 p.m. to midnight. I sent them all home and they returned at 5 a.m. today and continue on."

This notification began in the southernmost region of the water authority -- Elmont and Valley Stream -- where the contaminated samples were taken. The samples came from two restaurants on Dutch Broadway in Elmont, Tierney said.

"As for Water Authority wells, standpipes, storage facilities - each and every one has been tested and come up clean," Tierney said. "The issue was inside the buildings of two of our customers but we still need to distribute the Boil Alert according to regulations. As for the cause of these two incidents, since both were eating establishments, it could be that the sink the samples were taken from were not thoroughly clean, or just recently used, or even that the test was taken improperly since the tap must be heated first and drawn in a particular way in a particular bottle before beginning the testing."

Notification that this issue has been corrected will not come until "two, complete set of consecutive tests come back clean and the Department of Health gives the go ahead," Tierney said. He added that customers should continue to boil their water until such notification comes.