By Dave Vrbas

The Wauneta Breeze

As swift progress continues to be made on Palisade’s enormous water project, a setback in the form of E. coli contamination in the water system put another temporary strain on folks living within the city limits.

By late Thursday afternoon of last week, nearly everyone living in town had been notified via fellow citizens knocking on their doors, signs, phone calls, radio spots and even Facebook posts that the local water supply had been tainted.

Discovered in a sample taken from Palisade Mayor Jason Weiss’s own home last Tuesday, as test results came back positive for the dangerous bacteria, folks were notified immediately to stop drinking from the tap and begin boiling their water.

David Blau of Miller and Associates in McCook, the engineering firm in charge of the town’s water project, said the contaminated samples were taken as part of the village’s routine monthly water sampling.

“There was an indication of coliform bacteria so we did additional testing that confirmed the E. coli contaminant,” Blau explained, noting that the bacteria may have originated at one of the project’s many pipe connections, but also could have easily come from a simple water direction change initiated by workers on the project.

Blau explained that as new pipe connections are put into place during the project, tests are done at those connections. The levels of contaminant at each location must be at zero before continuing. All of those tests have come back satisfactory.

Weiss explained that contamination of the water supply is not uncommon during large water projects such as Palisade’s. “That’s why we test regularly,” he mentioned.

The positive coliform test came from the former Geraldine Smith home in east Palisade, and residences close by were immediately tested. Since tests take 48 hours in the lab, the E. coli bacteria in the water supply was not confirmed until Thursday afternoon.

At that time, a pack of citizens went door-to-door with informational posters and area radio stations began running spots urging citizens within the city limits to first boil their water before using it. Phone calls to local businesses were made and soon urgent Facebook posts alerted others.

Students at the Palisade Attendance Center were taken care of by area businesses, including HomeTown Agency of Wauneta who donated some snazzy ‘Wauneta-Palisade Broncos’ water bottles from which students could drink the Culligan water found in coolers set up around the school building. The school was also able to stock up on bottled water from Richard Alan’s Grocery store on Thursday and store it in their fridge.

Southwest Public Power’s Colyn Suda hauled additional Culligan water bottles back to town with him for fellow employees at the public power office and the Pioneer Cafe.

Stella Greenlee, the cafe’s manager, said they served strictly hamburgers and fries for lunch on Friday, then closed up until further notice for fear of contamination to the public through dishes, drinks and possibly even food. The state health inspector gave them the green light to resume business on Monday and commended them for handling the situation with care.

“We’re using the Culligan coolers for water and the ice cream machine, and our dishwasher already runs bleach through it so we’re good to go,” Greenlee said, noting they weren’t forced to shut down but wanted to make sure folks were safe.

Locals were advised to boil their water for a full minute before using it for everyday uses: drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and in food preparation.

Experts say dishwashers can be used during an E. coli contamination, as long as dishes are afterward dunked in a mixture of bleach and water. Clothes can be washed in the water as normal.

According to literature provided for citizens by the village: “Fecal coliforms and E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause short term effects, such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems.”

Weiss explained that the water was chlorinated Friday, then systems flushed out. New tests were to be administered on Monday and a second sample would need to be submitted to the lab on Tuesday.

Both samples will need to test safe in order to give the okay to resume regular water consumption. Weiss said he hopes to be able to give locals the go-ahead by the end of the week. At that time, they will put a notice on the radio and signs in prominent locations around town.

Blau also stressed that the chlorination process is safe for citizens and that there should be no adverse health effects due to the chlorination.

Water project humming along

While the recent E. coli contamination is indeed an inconvenience for Palisade citizens, both Blau and Weiss said the project is otherwise running along right on track.

As of this week, the main piping has been completed in town and VanKirk Brothers of Sutton is doing main work on the service connections. The well has already been dug out south of town and the pitless adapter and submersible well are in place. Yet to be done are the electrical components at the well, but Blau said the floor of the above-ground storage tank was poured last week and the steel panels are on site, ready to be bolted together.

Final completion dates are set for late November of this year, with VanKirk completing the piping, Sargent Drilling of Broken Bow set to complete the water well and EAI of Stillwell, Kan., installing the glass-lined, bolted, above-ground water storage tank. Total cost of the project is just over $900,000, with $472,000 taken care of by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture and the rest paid for by a low-interest loan from the USDA.