Taneytown well tests positive for E. coli

Two water samples from a Taneytown well tested positive for E. coli, city officials said.

Taneytown draws from eight wells to provide water for the city. Untreated samples from one of the wells — Well 9 — tested positive for “fecal contamination” during sampling on May 23 and 24, the city announced Thursday.

“The standard is that no more than one sample per source” may test positive, according to the city’s written statement.

Samples of water that had already gone through the city’s treatment process, which includes chlorination, were collected during the same May 23-24 testing period, said Kevin Smeak, Taneytown director of public works. Those samples tested negative for E. coli.

The source of the contaminant is currently unknown, Smeak said, but all the rain lately could have played a role.

Jim Wieprecht, Taneytown director of planning and zoning and acting city manager, said that after collecting and testing the water samples, the city sends results to the Maryland Department of the Environment, which then tells the city how to proceed.

The department sent the city a draft letter to send to residents Thursday. The city posted the letter to its website and social media platforms immediately, Wieprecht said.

Well 9 has been taken offline, City Councilman Joe Vigliotti wrote in a Facebook post. The well will be sidelined, not contributing to Taneytown water, “until a solution is reached and the tests are negative.”

The same well has been flagged for contaminants before, Smeak said. As such, the water from that well receives extra treatment — including carbon filtration — before it joins the rest of the city water.

But the presence of E. coli, a type of bacteria that comes from human or animal waste, is still concerning to the city officials.

E. coli can cause short-term health problems, like diarrhea, headaches and nausea, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA also says the bacteria can pose a greater risk to infants and young children, and those with severely compromised immune systems.

Taneytown residents claimed in a Facebook community group that they or their children experienced stomach-flu-like symptoms recently. Some attributed the illness to the contamination. Others did not come to the same conclusion.

“We have to do regular sampling, including for raw water,” Wieprecht said.

Water that hasn’t been treated with chlorine is considered raw water. The city takes such samples every month, Wieprecht said. When samples test positive for contaminants, like E. coli, the city must alert the Maryland Department of the Environment.

With the well offline, Taneytown is planning to chlorinate the well within the next several days, Smeak said. After the city chlorinates the well, it must retest the water, then notify MDE of its findings.

“Our anticipation is that the chlorination will fix the problem,” Wieprecht said.