The Town of Herndon is issuing a public notice that samples of the town’s drinking water suggested the Town may have been in violation of state regulations in September. However, officials say the incident was an isolated one, that the contaminated samples may have been compromised in the analysis and that the water was probably never contaminated.
"Our water system is fine," said Salah Jaro, the operation engineer of water and sewer systems in Herndon. He said the samples that exceeded the containment level could have been compromised during the collecting, handling and delivering of those samples to the lab. Immediate follow-up tests showed no contamination, and tests conducted in the first week of October showed no contamination.
In the third week of September, the Town processed 30 routine samples, and another 27 repeat samples, of the drinking water. Nine of the samples showed presence of total coliform bacteria, an indicator that other, potentially harmful, bacteria may be present. The finding prompted the Town to issue a public notice about the tests and the violation of the regulation, which also states that there is no emergency in the water system.
Since more than 40 samples were taken in September, the standard is that no more than 5 percent of the samples may be positive for coliform. The testing showed that 15.8 percent of the samples showed presence of total coliform. With samples since then returning negative for coliform bacteria, officials are confident that the water is not contaminated.

"THERE IS NO health danger is the bottom line," said Bob Boxer, the director of Public Works at the Town of Herndon. He is of the opinion, as is Jaro, that samples may have been compromised in the process of analysis. "It’s never really been a danger to water," said Boxer.
"This is just a public notice, there is no emergency," said Dave Kochendarfer, the deputy director of Public Works at the Town of Herndon. "This is just another process that we use to monitor our system."
Coliform bacteria are natural in the environment, and are generally not harmful themselves. Jaro said the system would have been shut down if the follow-up samples showed presence of coliform or if any of the samples showed presence of e-coli bacteria.
Officials say that based on the follow-up samples and the good bacteriological history of the system, this appears to have been a temporary, isolated violation of the total coliform standard. The Town will attempt to prevent further violations with collection of more samples and consulting with State health officials.
According to Jaro, Herndon’s water system is connected to the Fairfax County water system. The Town of Herndon receives its drinking water from two treatment plants located in Fairfax County, one in the Reston area and the other from the Occoquan Reservoir. For more information regarding the water testing, contact Salah Jaro at 703-435-6800 ext. 2077.