Boil water orders in North Attleboro and Plainville after E. coli found

NORTH ATTLEBORO – Two new towns, but the same old scene as in multiple communities in recent weeks. North Attleboro and Plainville DPW crews handed out water to neighbors Thursday after E. coli was detected in the communities’ shared water supply. 

“The Department of Environmental Protection determined they would like to do a boil water order until we retested the water to ensure it was safe; So it was out of an abundance of caution,” explained North Attleboro DPW Director Mark Howell.

The bacteria was found in the raw water, but not the treated supply. There is always a chance it was a bad sample.

“(Possible) Contamination of the sample during collection, contamination of the sample during transport, contamination during actual testing. E. coli is ubiquitous. It’s everywhere!” said water utility expert John Shaw.

But in nearby Mansfield last week, repeat samples confirmed E. coli was in fact present – prompting that town’s boil order.

It’s what helped Pizzeria Romana quickly implement their safety plan: boiled water for food, bottled water and bagged ice for drinking. The North Attleboro restaurant is one of eight.

“One of them is in Mansfield. They went through it a couple of weeks ago. We all have managers’ meetings. We prepared just in case. We’ve been through this before but we always want to make sure our clients are happy,” said manager Samuel Perez.

Between both communities, neighbors are understandably a little concerned about what they’ve consumed.

“I went to my first class (after filling a water bottle) and I’m still sipping it. They announce there’s E. coli in the water and we have to boil it,” a student said.

“We had a soccer game and we had the big Gatorade buckets. We filled it up with the water, not knowing anything. Everyone drank it,” a classmate added.

Both Plainville and North Attleboro crews will hand out water again Friday from 8am-6pm.