STANLEY, Va. (WHSV) – The Virginia Department of Health on Monday lifted the boil water advisory for the town of Stanley. The advisory had been in place for the town’s water supply since Aug. 8 after some routine water samples taken in the town on Aug. 5 tested positive for E. coli.

However, all samples taken since then have tested negative for E. coli and the city assures everyone that its water is safe to drink.

“After we were notified, we flushed all the fire hydrants in town, diverted water, checked our wells and tanks and we believe everything will be OK,” said Terry Pettit, Stanley’s town manager.

After the city received news of the positive E. coli test on August 8, Pettit said it hired a private company to test additional water samples throughout the city. On August 10, all samples taken were negative for E. coli.

On August 14, the city again took routine water samples and sent them to the VDH Office of Water Programs. These samples also all tested negative for E. coli.

“There are 30 different locations in the city (that are being tested) that cover the entire city,” Pettit said. “We have about 1,700 connections and a population of about 4,000, so we try to get comprehensive coverage of each and every neighborhood. We change that up every month — every month it’s a different neighborhood, so we think we’re collecting a good sample of the water in our system.”

Pettit said the city does not believe E. coli has ever been present in its water supply and that the first samples taken on Aug. 5 may have been contaminated.

“We really don’t know if there was actually E. coli in the water. We believe it’s because – and this is our personal opinion – it’s because of the way the water was collected,” Pettit said. “The samples can be contaminated very easily by touch or whatever, so we’re going to improve those samples and the way we collect them.”

The city has been urging residents to boil their water or buy bottled water for the past two weeks if they felt unsafe drinking city water. However, after two rounds of negative E. coli tests in city water and the VDH lifting the boil advisory, Pettit said the city’s water is safe to drink. To illustrate his point, he even drank a glass of tap water on camera while speaking to WHSV.

“We have improved our sampling program and met with the Virginia Department of Water Programs to see what we can do better in terms of collecting samples, shipping them properly and things like that,” Pettit said.

Pettit said the city is also looking into setting up a text or call notification system to quickly inform residents of city-related issues.

He said any residents with questions about the city’s water supply can call the city office at 540-778-3454.

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