Fecal matter reported after water was sampled by the Fannin County Water Authority was found to have come from a private well and not from the water authority supply.
“We went to the wrong house and took a sample,” Chairwoman Anita Weaver said. “We went to a house that has a well that is not on our system. It is next to our system.”
In a July 8 meeting, Cater & Sloop Engineer Kurt McCord mentioned discovering the fecal matter saying, “We have had a fecal test that came back positive, and it may have been an operator error, but I think we could possibly use that to say we have had an issue with this purchased water.” McCord was referring to water the authority buys from Morganton and Blue Ridge.
McCord provided the information when suggesting that the authority apply for a Georgia Environmental Finance Authority loan that is given to address water contaminants.
After further investigation, the authority realized the mistake.
“What happened on this one (water sample) is they went to do this, and they did the test, sent it off, and it came back with this issue,” Weaver said. “We contacted EPD (Environmental Protection Division) immediately, and they, of course, recommended we go back out and take another test.”
When General Manager Mike Scearce returned to collect another sample, he realized what had gone wrong, she said.
Scearce has since informed the homeowner of the issue and provided them with information to solve the problem.
Additionally, a sample was done on the intended water source and it came back with good reports, Weaver said.
“We notified everybody to let them know what had happened, and if it had been an actual one of our water systems, we would’ve notified everybody,” Weaver said. “We would’ve had to notify the paper, put a notice out to all of the houses in that development and everything like that, but with this not being on our system, we did not do that.”
The authority takes water samples once a month.