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By Colleen Ashley
Samoa News Intern
The Boil Water Notice issued last Thursday by the American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) was officially lifted yesterday after testings by the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) were found to contain no more traces of fecal coliform bacteria.
A statement issued by ASEPA said that test results from water samples collected Monday indicate that "ASPA Central System water provided to villages between Poloa and Onenoa is no longer contaminated with coliform (E. coli) bacteria. Based on these results, there is no reason to believe that this water is unsafe to drink."
The statement also said that ASPA Central System water now meets all federal and local drinking water standards, and that people no longer need to boil their water before drinking it.
ASEPA tested 30 water samples Monday from the contaminated water system. US Public Health Service Engineer Cmdr. Steven Anderson, who works at ASEPA, said the negative results were determined yesterday morning, and the notice was officially lifted by ASPA at 8:45 a.m.
The Boil Water Notice was issued after testing on Wednesday, Dec. 13 found that the water was contaminated by fecal coliform bacteria.
Fecal coliform bacteria "are very common bacteria, we just generally don't find them in the water. That's when they get people sick," Anderson said. "We are very happy that ASPA was able to respond so quickly to the need."
ASEPA urges all ASPA customers to "routinely clean their drinking water taps to avoid other potential sources of water contamination."
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