Customers of the Chester Department Water were notified on July 8, 2022 of loss of water pressure/loss of water service in certain sections of our distribution system due to excessive water use in combination with a leak near the eastern end of our distribution system. We were advised to boil our water or use bottled water for drinking, making ice, food preparation, washing dishes and brushing teeth until further notice. We were also requested to limit water consumption to allow time for our water storage clearwell to refill.
Since initial public notification, we provided frequent robocalls with incident updates and provided bottled water to our customers, along with grey water for flushing toilets.
We located and patched the leak in our distribution main; verified normal pressures of at least 20 pounds per square inch throughout our distribution system; and determined that our treatment plant, along with the SCADA instrumentation, alarms and flow meters were working normally. On Thursday, July 14th and Friday, July 15th, we collected samples for bacterial analysis from the Town Hall and from locations at the far ends of our distribution system. All samples came back free of total coliform bacteria.
We are pleased to report that the problem has been corrected and that it is no longer necessary to boil your water. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
As always, you may contact the Chester Board of Water Commissioners at 413-354-7760 with any comments or questions.
Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.