New York State Department of Health Discontinues Do Not Drink Recommendation for Village of Rushvill
ALBANY, N.Y. (October 13, 2018) - The Do Not Drink Advisory for the Village of Rushville's Public Water Supply, including customers in the Middlesex Water District, is discontinued. Samples collected on 10/11/2018 and 10/12/2018 confirmed that the blue-green algae toxin microcystin no longer exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's health advisory level in water delivered to consumers. The water is acceptable for drinking, food preparation and all other household uses.
Testing completed on Friday 10/12 and Saturday 10/13 returned results of less than 0.3 micrograms per liter in finished water, below the EPA's 10-day Health Advisory Level of 0.3 micrograms per liter of microcystins for bottle fed infants and children under 6 years old. Thursday's test results of 0.66 micrograms per liter of microcystins in finished water exceeded that advisory level, but were below the EPA's health advisory level of 1.6 micrograms per liter for individuals not included in that group. Out of an abundance of caution, the state recommended to all consumers that they not consume water and worked with County and Village officials to provide bottled water for the extent of the advisory.
The Village of Rushville's Public Water Supply will continue to work with the NYS Department of Health to monitor the public water supplies. Additional samples will be collected and sent to the Wadsworth Center, the NYSDOH's public health laboratory, for analysis to confirm that microcystin levels consistently remain below the EPA's 10-day health advisory level of 0.3 micrograms per liter for bottle fed infants and children under 6 years old.
Information about blue-green algae and related toxins can be found at www.health.ny.gov/HarmfulAlgae.
People and animals should always take steps to stay away from any blooms in surface waters because contact can make people and animals sick.
Residents with questions or concerns can call the following numbers for assistance: Ontario County (585) 396-4343, Yates County at (315) 536-5160, Village of Rushville (585) 554-3415. Additionally, the New York State Department of Health Geneva District Office can be reached at (315) 789-3030 or the NYSDOH's Bureau of Water Supply Protection at (518) 402-7650.
