Lewisboro Water Advisory: Westchester Health Department

LEWISBORO, NY — Westchester health officials announced Friday that earlier this week, the Oakridge Water Company notified 200 of its customers in Lewisboro that a test sample of their drinking water was found to have exceeded the standard for a chlorination byproduct.

Trihalomethanes are a byproduct of chlorination that is normally found in drinking water.

Customers should know that there is no need to boil their water or take corrective action, health department officials said.

In addition to overseeing the monitoring of the water, the Health Department is addressing issues about late notifications by the water company. The company failed to meet the 30-day notification requirement in August, officials said.

To ensure customers are fully informed about the situation, the Health Department and Town of Lewisboro are hand delivering a report on the trihalomethanes situation to the affected customers this weekend that explains corrective actions being taken by the water company and what voluntary precautions they can take.

Oakridge routinely monitors for the presence of drinking water contaminants. One of two samples taken in August exceeded the standard for total trihalomethanes. During a required follow-up testing in November, a second sample exceeded the same standard.

Exceeding the standard is an indicator for water suppliers to take action to reduce the trihalomethane concentration to maintain what is already a large margin of protection against health effects. Following the exceedances, the Oakridge Water Company has taken steps to reduce the trihalomethane concentration. To remove byproducts, it has conducted weekly flushing of its system, as recently as today, with flushing to continue as long as needed. Oakridge has hired the Delaware Engineering Company to provide technical assistance, and the situation is being closely monitored by the Department of Health.

Trihalomethanes are a group of chemicals that form in drinking water during disinfection with chlorine. Disinfectants react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter present in water to form disinfection byproducts such as trihalomethanes. Drinking water is disinfected by public water suppliers to kill bacteria and viruses that could cause serious illnesses, and chlorine is the most commonly used disinfectant in New York State.