PRUDENCE ISLAND — It was over a year ago that the Prudence Island Water District (PIWD) sent out the notice, back in early October 2018. 

Routine testing had discovered traces of E. coli and total coliform in its water supply, it read, and until resolved, customers were under a boil-water order. At the time, this was nothing new; islanders were used to the periodic mandate, or they simply just kept drinking the water. 

This time, however, things are different. 

To this day, that order — impacting as many as 700 customers — has yet to be lifted. Yet in the PIWD's efforts to solve its water woes, many residents have been left feeling uninformed, frustrated and skeptic that the district's solution will end their contamination problems for good. 

Do backflow preventers work?

The problem began on Sept. 27, 2018, when strains of E. coli and total coliform bacteria were detected in the PIWD storage tank. As a result, the district did another round of sampling just a few days later, on Oct. 1 — this time not only at just the tank, but at the Army Camp and Indian Spring No. 4 wells along with homes on Pier Road and Allen Lane.

While both wells were in the clear, the two houses and storage tank again showed traces of E. coli — forcing the Rhode Island Department of Health to issue the PIWD a boil-water order until three consecutive samples were in the clear.  

According to the notice sent out, evidence of total coliform in the water supply typically hints at trouble with the storage or distribution system itself; E. coli, meanwhile, points to the contamination of human or animal waste. 

In the PIWD's view, that was likely the result of someone improperly winterizing their home as they closed down for the season, contaminating the public water supply. In an attempt to keep that from happening again, the district is now requiring all 350 homes to install backflow preventers, or small devices used to protect water from contamination. 

“If there is a problem of contamination getting into a water supply, one of the fastest and easiest things to do is to install these devices,” Portsmouth Building Inspector Gareth Eames said. 

Yet chatter on the popular Heard Around the Dock Facebook page suggests that residents are not only skeptic about the success of installing these backflow preventers, but the root cause of the issue as well:

Sooooo positive tests for coliform during the summer. So many people (must) have been shutting down and going to Florida in AUGUST!

Will the PIWD refund us all the money that we have wasted on this failed attempt at solving their problem(?)

Don't worry. When we get our new shut off valves, even though they are a little expensive to install, we will never have a problem again. Total BS.

"It's a stopgap," seasonal resident Michael Sheehan said. “It’s probably buying four years before we have to chlorinate the water.”  

Though significantly cheaper than putting a centralized chlorination treatment system in place, the installation of a backflow preventer, for some residents, is not a trivial investment. While the device itself is inexpensive — "probably like the order of 25 to 50 dollars," Mr. Eames said — there is still the cost of pulling permits and paying for labor. 

In cases where in-house installations are not a possibility (which could be a large amount, one resident said, considering the number of older houses "sitting on posts, cinderblocks, with virtually no basement under"), workers will have to complete above or below-ground ones — hiking costs up to over $2,000, the PIWD's Cross-Connection Control Plan (CCCP) predicts.  Not only that, but for properties deemed high-hazard (those with private wells, sprinkler systems, etc.) will require a reduced pressure principle backflow assembly — a more "sophisticated" device, Mr. Eames said, not to mention more costly.

"If the backflow preventers aren’t the answer," Mr. Sheehan asked, "then why are we wasting 200, 300 dollars each to do this?"

'A moving goalpost' 

Despite their reluctance, a number of islanders have inquired how to get the backflow preventers properly installed by the August 2020 deadline. However, they say getting timely, accurate information from PIWD has been trying. It was not until the late spring/early summer of this year that PIWD was able to circulate those CCCP guidelines, including probable costs and a list of capable plumbers. 

“We almost went nine months without knowing what to do,” Mr. Sheehan said. 

Even then, not all of their questions were answered, residents say, and some of the information provided has since changed. Some were under the impression those plumbers the PIWD recommended were also certified to inspect the installations. After one such job was finished, one islander was simply waiting on his plumber's signature when he learned that was not the case. 

Even Mr. Eames himself was fielding calls from inquiring residents, prompting him to send PIWD moderator Robin Weber a Sept. 30 e-mail outlining the steps islanders need to follow in order to become compliant. For those who already had their installations completed, they would need to apply for a permit either online or at Portsmouth Town Hall. Those yet to start would have their plumber (if engaging) do the work. In either case, the work would then have to be inspected by a qualified inspector. 

"As much as people like to think of us as throwing obstacles in their way … the codes are there to promote the health, safety and general welfare," Mr. Eames said. "And we take that seriously."

To his knowledge, however, that information has not been circulated with all islanders, nor has the PIWD hired on more third-party inspectors. That leaves just Mr. Eames to accomplish the task, a job he said he simply just doesn't "have the manpower" for.

"Otherwise, I'd be (inspecting) until I was 90," he said.  

That not only causes problems for Mr. Eames, but for part-time residents as well, many of whom have already gone off for the reason. Though Mr. Sheehan, with his electrical engineering background, intends to self-install his backflow preventer before heading out, others will have to play catchup upon returning next year. 

Though the entire process has been "a moving goalpost," Mr. Sheehan said, he acknowledges that the PIWD is a small board; at the end of the day, he just wants safe water for his grandchildren. 

More information, however, could be on its way soon. Following its most recent meeting on Saturday, Nov. 16, the PIWD intends to publish a FAQ sheet within the next few weeks. Yet only time will tell whether these installations ultimately proved to be successful, or if further action to protect the water supply is needed. 

The PIWD did not return a phone call to the Portsmouth Times.