BUFFALO, W.Va. — After being told not to drink the tap water for the second time in a week, residents in parts of Putnam County received another “all clear” from West Virginia American Water Company on Saturday.
The second advisory was lifted for Buffalo, Frazier’s Bottom and Pliny on Saturday afternoon following additional flushing of the water lines and testing for MCHM, the chemical that leaked into the Elk River on Jan. 9 and made it into the water supply for more than 100,000 WVAW customers.
It was a repeat for that part of Putnam County where the do-not-use order was first lifted Wednesday, but reinstated on Friday to, water company officials said, “exercise the utmost caution.” They said test results for MCHM, following the lifting of the first order, found higher levels of MCHM than the one part per million (ppm) the Centers for Disease Control recommends.
The leak happened at Freedom Industries on Jan. 9. It was Friday, Jan. 17 before customers in all WVAW zones, in parts of the affected nine counties, were cleared to start the flushing process and resume regular tap water usage.