A disinfection equipment failure at one well feeding Plumstead Township's Northern Water System has left nine developments and a commercial district under a boil water advisory that officials say could last three to five days. The reason it takes that long has nothing to do with how fast the equipment gets fixed.
What Went Wrong at Country Green
Plumstead Township's Northern Water System draws from five wells, and an equipment failure at one of them, the Country Green Treatment Plant, caused a temporary loss of adequate disinfection there. Because that well feeds into the shared distribution network, the township issued a boil water advisory covering roughly nine separate neighborhoods on that system, from Country Green and Cabin Run through several other nearby developments, plus businesses in the Plumsteadville commercial area.
Residents and business owners in the covered area are being told to bring any water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, or brushing teeth to a rolling boil for at least five minutes, or to use bottled water instead, until the township gets the all clear from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Why 'Fixed' Doesn't Mean 'Lifted' Right Away
The equipment problem itself can often be repaired quickly, but that is not what determines how long the advisory stays in place. Pennsylvania's DEP requires two consecutive days of satisfactory laboratory results before it will authorize lifting a boil water advisory, and each water sample also has to sit through an incubation period before it can even be analyzed for bacteria. Stack those requirements together and the minimum realistic timeline runs three to five days, even in a best-case scenario where the disinfection equipment gets fixed the same day the advisory starts.
That is a useful thing for any homeowner to understand about boil water advisories in general, not just this one. The delay is a testing safeguard, not a sign that the problem is worse than announced. Officials have not said exactly when the advisory will lift, precisely because that decision depends on those consecutive clean lab results rather than on how quickly the equipment itself is repaired.
What a Boil Water Advisory Does and Doesn't Cover in Your House
The instruction to boil water applies specifically to anything that goes in your mouth or touches food: drinking water, cooking water, ice, and brushing teeth. Showering and bathing are generally fine under this kind of advisory, since the health concern is ingestion, though households with infants or small children should still keep bathwater out of reach of little mouths just to be careful.
Two things homeowners often forget are the ice maker and the water heater. Any ice already made in a freezer's ice maker during the advisory period should be dumped out and the bin run empty for a batch or two once the advisory lifts, since that ice was made from water that had not been through a boil-water-safe process. A tank-style water heater holds water that was already inside it before the advisory started, so it is generally considered safe, but any water drawn immediately after a repair or line disturbance is worth treating with the same caution as tap water until the advisory formally ends.
What to Do Once the Advisory Lifts
When Plumstead Township announces the advisory is over, the water sitting in household plumbing at that moment still needs to be flushed out before it is back to normal use. That means running cold water taps for several minutes throughout the house, running outdoor spigots and hose bibs, flushing any water heater according to the manufacturer's guidance, and replacing any whole-house or under-sink filter cartridges that were in use during the advisory, since those filters can trap whatever passed through the system during the disruption.
This is exactly the kind of flush-and-check work a licensed plumber can handle quickly and correctly, including inspecting whether the disinfection interruption caused any sediment or pressure issues elsewhere in a home's plumbing. Plumbarama services water heaters and whole-house filtration across New Jersey and Pennsylvania and is available 24/7 for post-advisory checks and any plumbing questions that come up once the all-clear is given.
Sources: NBC10 Philadelphia, Plumstead Township
6 Things to Do Right Now Under a Boil Water Advisory
The advisory covers more corners of a kitchen than most people think to check on the first day.
- Boil water for at least five minutes, or use bottled water: This applies to drinking, cooking, making ice, and brushing teeth for the duration of the advisory.
- Empty and discard ice made during the advisory: Automatic ice makers use unboiled tap water, so any ice made since the advisory started should be tossed.
- Showering and bathing are generally fine: The concern is ingestion, so keep bathwater away from infants' and young children's mouths as a precaution.
- Hold off on refilling a fish tank or humidifier with tap water: Both introduce untreated water into an enclosed system in a way that's easy to overlook during an advisory.
- Check which specific streets are covered: These advisories are often block by block rather than township-wide, so confirm your address is actually included.
- Wait for the official all-clear before going back to normal: Don't guess based on how many days have passed. DEP's clearance is based on lab results, not a calendar.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I still shower or wash dishes during a boil water advisory?
- Showering and bathing are generally considered safe since the concern is swallowing untreated water, not skin contact. For dishes, using a dishwasher's hot or sanitize cycle is typically fine, but hand-washed items that touch food should be rinsed with boiled or bottled water.
- Why does a boil water advisory last several days even after the equipment is fixed?
- Pennsylvania's DEP requires two consecutive days of clean laboratory test results, and each sample needs an incubation period before it can be analyzed, before it will authorize lifting the advisory. That testing timeline, not the repair itself, sets the minimum duration.
- Is my private well affected by this advisory?
- No. This advisory applies specifically to customers on Plumstead Township's public Northern Water System. Private well owners aren't covered by it, though periodic well water testing is a good habit regardless.
- What should I do to my home's plumbing once the advisory is lifted?
- Flush cold water taps and outdoor spigots for several minutes, run out and discard any ice made during the advisory, flush the water heater per manufacturer guidance, and replace any water filter cartridges that were in use during the disruption.