Water warning issued in Westmoreland County
The Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County is alerting around 50,000 homeowners and businesses south of Route 30 about an elevated level of haloacetic acid in drinking water.
According to MAWC, a routine sampling on October 26 found the chemical was found to be above the acceptable level.
The company says drinking excessive amounts of haloacetic acid over many years could cause cancer, but the water provider says its Indian Creek System was flushed immediately following the high test result.
That decreased the chemical count by around 50 percent and it has remained below an acceptable level since.
According to the municipal authority, severely immunocompromised people or pregnant women should contact their doctors about exposure but claims everyone else should be fine.
MAWC says there’s no need to boil water or change your drinking water source.
It also plans to change the blend of chemicals used for water treatment on December 1.
The company released a statement that reads in part, “Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this incident was not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened and what we did to correct this situation.”
While haloacetic acid levels have returned to normal, the municipal authority says it is required to keep the warning active for the next three months.
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