Tests show coliform bacteria in Metigoshe Ministries’ Christian Center site water. Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard. Although this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct this situation. 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.

We routinely monitor for the presence of drinking water contaminants. We took six (6) samples for coliform bacteria during July 2013. Of those samples, six(6) showed the presence of coliform bacteria. The standard is that no more than 1 sample per monitoring period may do so.

What should you do?  You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions. However, if you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor.  If you have a severely compromised immune system, have an infant, are pregnant, or are elderly, you may be at increased risk and should seek advice from your health care providers about drinking this water. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-74791.

What does this mean? This is not an emergency. If it had been you would have been notified within 24 hours. Total coliform bacteria are generally not harmful themselves. Coliforms are bacteria which are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems.

Usually coliforms are a sign that there could be a problem with the treatment or distribution system (pipes). Whenever we detect coliform bacteria in any sample, we do follow-up testing to see if other bacteria of greater concern, such as fecal coliform or E.coli are present. We did not find any of these bacteria in our subsequent testing. If we had, we would have notified you immediately. However, we are still finding coliforms in the drinking water.

What is being done? We are still detecting coliform bacteria. We believe we have resolved the problem and are awaiting updated testing. For more information, please contact Metigoshe Ministries at 701-263-4788.

Drinking Water Solutions

Corrective Actions:  1) Repaired faulty check valve on chlorinator; 2) Repaired leaking pit-less unit on well; 3) Sanitized wells; 4) Increased flow of chlorinating fluid; 5) Raised concentration of chlorine in solution slightly