EAST PROVIDENCE - City officials say it's safe to drink the water in East Providence after two samples taken in the past month have separately showed dangerous fecal bacteria contamination at different testing sites in the city.

Water samples taken on Jan. 13 at the fire station on Broadway tested positive for E. coli, a coliform bacteria found in human and animal waste, but it was not reported to the state department of health within 24 hours as required by law because Water Superintendent Kenneth Booth allegedly misinterpreted the results.

"There was a serious error when it was reported. We fully admit that," said East Providence City Manager Bill Fazioli.

According to Mr. Fazioli, a lab technician who tested the water allegedly told Mr. Booth she found fecal bacteria on Jan. 13, but Mr. Booth said he thought she identified it as a harmless form of bacteria. He apparently mistook the results for "total coliform," which is a non-dangerous form of coliform, and not "fecal coliform," or E. Coli, which causes severe diarrhea and cramping in humans who ingest it.

June Swallow, chief of the state office of drinking water quality, said it is likely the state would have ordered residents to boil water if the department of health had been properly notified.

"For a boil water order, you need presence of coliform in one sample confirmed by a second sample that must show fecal coliform. The testing done on Jan. 13 was a follow-up to an initial positive coliform result, so it's likely a boil water order would have been issued," she said.

Mr. Fazioli said no other samples came up positive throughout the month of January, but another sample taken at the Riverside Fire Station test site on Thursday, Feb. 3 did come up positive. A second test done the next day came up negative, so the criteria for notifying the state was not met.

Origins unknown

Mr. Fazioli said the origins for both the Jan. 13 and Feb. 3 bacteria are unknown, but according to the Centers for Disease Control, rain and snowmelt are often blamed for fecal water contamination.

Mr. Fazioli said he issued an announcement to residents when he first learned of the Jan. 13 contamination on Saturday, Feb. 6. The announcement was broadcast on television and Mr. Fazioli said the city is considering putting a fact sheet about the contamination on the city's Web site, www.eastprovidence.com.

He said the problem won't happen again because the East Providence has stepped up its water testing practices.

"We've already changed the policy so that, if there is a positive sample done, they will notify not just Mr. Booth, but myself and the director of public works. We're very upset it was not reported to the department of health in the right way," he said.

"Subsequent testing has not shown any evidence the contamination spread through the system. We're talking daily with the department of health and reviewing test results on a daily basis and no additional contamination has been found. We've made it clear from the beginning that it's OK to drink the water in East Providence," Mr. Fazioli said.

The city has increased the number of weekly water tests done from two to four, and has added chlorine to the supply as a safeguard. He also said the city plans to flush the system in the spring.

Testing to the East Providence Water Supply, which the city purchases from Providence's Scituate Reservoir, is done daily at ten locations throughout the city. Water service crews swab disinfected faucets at each site after running the water for 15 minutes. If any sample comes up positive for coliform, further tests are done up and downstream from the site in private homes. If a second sample comes up positive, the city must notify the state department of health, who typically issues a boil-water order.

East Providence samples its water 1,000 times per year, far above the state-mandated 600 annual tests. The last record of fecal contamination was in 1990.

Mr. Booth, a 15-year veteran of the water department, said the testing sites used to get water samples are not ideal and could be to blame for the bacteria.

"These sites are also used for cooking, and there are bathrooms nearby. There are factors that could contaminate it," he said.

Mr. Fazioli said the city is considering changing its test sites, since many other communities have set up areas used strictly for water testing instead of taking samples at public buildings. He also said the age of pipes could be partly to blame, since sediment builds up over time. Pipes more than 100-years-old are pumping 1.8 billion gallons of water all over the city each year, something Mr. Fazioli said the city will be giving a serious look.

"Water quality is something we take very seriously. There are 50,000 residents who rely on it, and another 20,000 who work here daily," he said. "It's the lifeline of the community."

BY AMANDA MANTONE

amantone@eastbaynewspapers.com