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Burlington's water issues prompts questions from mayor to state, federal regulators

Burlington mayor Ian Baltutis posted a video asking questions about the city's water issues this week.

BURLINGTON, N.C. — Editor's note: The video used in this story is from a previous, related report.

Burlington's mayor promised to question state and federal regulators about the city's water issues following this past week's E. Coli incident and the ensuing city-wide boil water advisory. In a video he posted to Facebook Saturday, Mayor Ian Baltutis voiced his concerns and hopes to seek answers to prevent a similar situation from happening again in the future.

The boil water advisory was lifted in Burlington at 8 p.m. Friday. The 800+ businesses impacted by the advisory gearing up to get back to work in the next few days.

Mayor Baltutis said the questions he will raise to regulators are, specifically:

1. Why was a single positive test in an isolated residence able to trigger this type of system wide notice?

2. What reforms can be made to prevent this type of event from occurring in the future?

3. How can regulations be modernized to limit negative economic impacts while ensuring public health and safety?

The city detected issues with its water system during regular testing on Thursday, July 15. Businesses and residents were soon told the must boil their water that came from city water systems before drinking it to avoid getting sick.

The source of the city-wide issue was traced back to a single spigot needing cleaning. The ensuing cleanse and testing took 24 hours to complete, and the boil water advisory was ended shortly thereafter.

Watch the full video Mayor Baltutis posted:

The Water Boil Advisory was lifted at 8pm last night. Thank you to all of our folks who worked long hours to get this resolved. The E.coli tests take 24 hours to complete which was a large part of the process. Thank you also to all our staff who assisted in water distribution events yesterday. This event has raised a number of very important questions that our City will be posing to state and federal regulators over the coming weeks. 1. Why was a single positive test in an isolated residence able to trigger this type of system wide notice? 2. What reforms can be made to prevent this type of event from occuring in the future? 3. How can regulations be modernized to limit negative economic impacts while ensuring public health and safety?

Posted by Mayor Ian Baltutis on Saturday, July 17, 2021

    

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