MAYVILLE, N.Y. — Nearly a week later, a "Do Not Drink" water advisory is still in effect for the Village of Mayville.
The advisory went into effect on December 10, with the directive that residents should not use the water for drinking, cooking, food preparation, brushing your teeth, or for animal consumption, until further notice.
While the advisory is still in effect, Christine Schuyler, the Chautauqua County public health director, says "a tremendous amount of progress has been made quickly."
“Work is not complete though and until this advisory can be lifted, please continue to use bottled water for drinking and preparing food,” Schuyler said.
Meanwhile, officials from the Village of Mayville, Chautauqua County Health and Emergency Services Departments, New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) continue to remedy the situation so Mayville residents can have clean, safe drinking water.
The county says new well number four was put in service on Monday, and is currently supplying the village's water system with clean water. The village has started to flush the system, replacing the water in the storage tank with water from the well. The county says this will continue over the next few days, adding that the water in the storage tank is being sampled for monitoring.
Once water system flushing is complete, residents will be instructed to flush their household plumbing. In the meantime, residents may notice discolored, cloudy water, which the county says is normal.
The county health department also mailed letters on Monday, offering private well sampling to 30 households with private wells near the area of concern. Staff from the county and state health departments will be doing water sampling as early as Saturday, and water test results will be given as quickly as possible.
During this time, water distributions will continue in the village as follows:
- Wednesday through Saturday water will be handed out at the Town of Chautauqua Highway Building from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- On Friday, water will be handed out at the Tops parking lot in Mayville from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
- On Sunday, water will be handed out again at the Tops parking lot in Mayville from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The village also continues to distribute bottled and bulk water to residents, businesses and the Chautauqua Lake Central School daily.
The county says, "Ample bottled water reserves are being kept on-hand by the village and county." And if the water advisory lasts longer than the weekend, the county health department says the state department of health is ready to gather more bottled water.
