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Williams Bay remains in "do not drink" order
Williams Bay remains under a "do not drink" order after nitrite contamination sickened two children.
WILLIAMS BAY, Wis. - The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is expected to return to Williams Bay on Tuesday, Sept. 2, for another round of water testing after unsafe nitrite levels were discovered last week.
What we know:
Residents remain under a "do not drink" order, meaning tap water cannot be used for drinking or cooking. The emergency was declared after two children were diagnosed with "blue baby syndrome," an illness often linked to contaminated water.
Julie Coker, a Williams Bay resident, showed how she has been navigating the situation.
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"This is the tap water – it looks kind of cloudy," she said. "Here’s our water filtration system – and if that goes red then it’s bad. But it’s green so it’s fine. I’ve been extra careful – like all our ice cubes we’ve been using have been from the Culligan downstairs."
Village President Adam Jaramillo said crews are flushing the system with chlorine in an effort to clear the contamination.
"In order to treat the nitrite in the water, our engineers are putting a lot of chlorine and free chlorine into the system. Residents are going to be able to smell that and sense that," he said. "Best case scenario – we are going to be getting clean results on Wednesday."
Williams Bay water contaminated with nitrite; not safe for drinking, cooking
Williams Bay Waterworks is advising its residents to not use the tap water for drinking or cooking until further notice. That is because water testing has indicated elevated levels of nitrite.
Dig deeper:
In the meantime, bottled water is being distributed daily at Williams Bay School, which also remains stocked for students and staff.
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"Has been running super smooth the past few days. We are excited to have the kids back," said Ryan Quinn, director of buildings and grounds for Williams Bay Schools. "Kitchen staff we are working with them we got them a water cooler too just because of how much they are using water. Everyone is working around it and we want to make sure we are helping out the community as much as we can."
Starting Tuesday, distribution hours at the school will be adjusted to account for classes resuming. For more information, visit the village's website.
The Source: The information in this post was collected and produced by FOX6 News.