Harwich: Water is safe to drink again after firefighting foam contamination

Cape Cod Times
·1 min read

The water is once again safe to drink in Harwich, officials announced Thursday afternoon.

The town announced in a statement that it has removed a "do not drink" order issued earlier this week after firefighting foam from a Tuesday fire in Dennis on the border of Harwich caused the contamination.

"The Water Department is happy to report that the water sample test results taken in response to the firefighting foam incident have indicated no detection of firefighting foam. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has given the Town the approval to lift the Do Not Drink order effective immediately," the statement reads.

The official certificate of analysis and a map identifying the sample locations tested on Wednesday is available on the town’s website. The water department has collected an additional five samples today and will continue to monitor and publish the test results to the town’s website.

Firefighting foam tops a roadway catch pool off the side of Great Western Road in South Dennis Wednesday morning across the street from the scene of a storage bay fire on Tuesday. Residents in the area were given a water advisory because of runoff from the fire.
Firefighting foam tops a roadway catch pool off the side of Great Western Road in South Dennis Wednesday morning across the street from the scene of a storage bay fire on Tuesday. Residents in the area were given a water advisory because of runoff from the fire.

Although there has been no detection of foam in the samples taken, residents may experience discoloration due to flushing operations.

Residents who experience discolored water are encouraged to flush their home plumbing system by running all interior and exterior cold water taps simultaneously for approximately 10 minutes. Once completed, hot water fixtures should be run until the water runs cold, ensuring a full flushing of the home’s hot water tank. Homes with tankless water heaters should run all hot water fixtures simultaneously for 10 minutes.

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This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Harwich 'do not drink' ban lifted after drinking water tests clean