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North St. Paul resumes chlorination after bacteria tests detect contamination; city to continue testing
Summary
City staff said recent road and waterline work likely introduced bacteria into the distribution system; the city resumed chlorination, plans several weeks of testing, and warned residents about brown water and laundry precautions.
City manager said recent road reconstruction and associated waterline work likely allowed organic matter into the distribution system and that routine testing detected bacteria in the system.
"We did start chlorination. We had it in there for about what four or five weeks ... we did take that off last week, did testing again, and unfortunately they came back with several fails for the testing that is still detecting bacteria," the city manager said. The city has resumed chlorination and moved the chlorination point closer to the affected area in hopes of improving results.
Staff warned residents that when chlorination flushes mineral buildup it can cause brown water in homes; they recommended running water until it clears and re-washing laundry rather than drying clothes that come out discolored. The city said it will continue chlorination for several weeks and re-test; officials described a worst-case scenario in which a comparable city had to maintain full-time chlorination when intermittent treatment failed to remove bacteria.
City staff said they are working with state regulators, that the current chlorination levels remain within required parameters, and that they will update testing results to the council as they become available.
