UPDATE: 'Boil Notice' to Wayland Schools Lifted

UPDATE: DPW Dir. Don Ouellette said the state Department of Environmental Protection has given the all-clear after a morning test of raw water at Happy Hollow Well tested positive for fecal coliform.

Ouellette said hourly tests will continue at the affected well for the next five hours, and the well will remain off-line until those tests return.

Ouellette again stressed that the treated water never tested positive and that Wayland's drinking water is safe.

ORIGINAL: Wayland Public Schools this morning received a "Boil Water Only Mandate" after a test of raw water from the Happy Hollow Well returned positive for fecal coliform.

Department of Public Works Dir. Don Ouellette stressed that the result came back in the raw water samples only and that the towns treated water -- the water being pumped to homes, businesses and schools -- did not test positive.

Still, the state Department of Environmental Protection requires that a "Boil Water" notice be sent to schools when such a test result is received.

Ouellette told Patch that the department received word of the test result at about 10 a.m. Thursday and has been following protocol since then, including taking additional samples to be tested. He said that the DEP protocol for responding to such a test result changed in February.

"If this result had come back last year, we wouldn't even have needed to notify schools," he said. As it is, the following announcement was distributed to Wayland schools:

We have just received word from the Wayland Water Department that we are under a "Boil Water Only Mandate" currently.  In other words, please do not drink water that comes out of the tap, from the refrigerators (even filtered), or from the water fountains.  (Water fountains will be shut down momentarily.) Boiled water may be consumed.  We will inform you when the mandate has been lifted.

Ouellette said he is expecting additional information around noon and further steps will be taken, if necessary, at that time. If subsequent tests return postive results for the bacteria, Ouellette said a wider "Boil Water" ban would be communicated to the town.

"We sample all the time … we've done another round just to verify that we're ok," Ouellette said, adding that his engineers expect the next results to be clean. "It could be as simple as a poor sample that was taken."

Wayland water has tested positive for coliform in the past but not at levels that posed a danger to public health.

In this instance, the tests were positive for fecal coliform, which heightens the response, Ouellette explained.

Patch will provide updates as more information becomes available.