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Cedarbrook nursing home still without tap water

Morning Call (Allentown, PA) - 11/27/2014

Nov. 27--Residents and staff at Lehigh County-owned Cedarbrook nursing home will be without the use of tap water until at least Friday while the county awaits the result of tests prompted by a report of foul-smelling water.

County officials had hoped to have those test results before Thanksgiving, but General Services Director Rick Molchany said he learned Wednesday that they wouldn't be available until after the holiday.

In the meantime, he said, residents and the staff are continuing to use bottled water for drinking and cooking, and residents still won't be able to bathe in tubs or showers until Friday at the earliest. He said residents are being washed at their beds.

Molchany said additional work was done Wednesday and that workers investigating the source believe the odor may have originated in a boiler in the D Wing area of the building.

"We had our county emergency response team go to Cedarbrook and use equipment to determine if there were volatile organic compounds in the water and they didn't find any, which is good," he said. But we still don't have official results from our independent tester, which is required prior to us bringing the system back on line."

He said the problem was isolated to a heating coil that heats water. He said multiple components on the boiler were replaced and a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved detergent was used to clean the water system.

The water probe began Sunday after a nurse reported smelling a petroleum odor, prompting a response from multiple emergency agencies. The water issue affects about 435 residents.

Bob Ibach, public works manager for South Whitehall Township, which has a water and sewer authority that provides water to the nursing home, said Tuesday that there were no problems found with water going into the building at 350 S. Cedarbrook Road in South Whitehall Township.

"Even though we've done all of this preliminary [work], we don't feel comfortable [using the water] without the final test," Molchany said. "The most important thing is safety."

patrick.lester@mcall.com

Twitter @plester6

610-820-6764

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