Drinking water advisory for University Park campus

DRINKING WATER ADVISORY

UNIVERSITY PARK  COMMUNITY ADVISED TO BOIL WATER OR USE BOTTLED WATER AS A PRECAUTION

RESIDENTES ACONSEJADAS HERVIR EL AGUA ANTES DE USARLA, COMO PRECAUCION.

ESTE INFORME CONTIENE INFORMACION MUY IMPORTANTE SOBRE SU AGUA DE BEBER. TRADUZCALO O HABLE CON ALGUIEN QUE LO ENTIENDA BIEN.

Penn State's University Park Campus has high turbidity levels in its drinking water system today (March 5, 2008). We received reports of cloudy water, or turbidity, from several campus buildings this morning.  Our investigation has found that one of the supply wells is the source of the turbidity (cloudiness) due to the heavy rains and area flooding, and has been removed from service.

Our Office of Physical Plant is flushing the water system today and is collecting water samples to test for bacteria.

As a precaution, boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

Turbidity has no health effects.  However, turbidity can interfere with disinfection and provide a medium for microbial growth. Turbidity may indicate the presence of disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea and associated headaches. People with severely compromised immune systems, infants, and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.

The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water.  If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice.

We will inform you when the precaution to boil the water is lifted.

For more information, contact:

Paul Ruskin, Office of Physical Plant, 814-863-9620 pdr2@nw.opp.psu.edu

Vicki Fong, Department of Public Information, 814-865-9481  vfong@psu.edu

Please share this information with all other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, residence halls, nursing homes, day care centers, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

This notice is from the Office of Physical Plant at Penn State University.

PWS ID#  4140095   
Date Distributed: March 5, 2008