City of Eldon hands out free water while under boil order
ELDON, Mo. (KMIZ)
The City of Eldon handed out free cases of water to residents while under a boil order Wednesday at the Eldon Community Center, located at 309 E. 2nd St., from 4 to 5:30 p.m, according to a Facebook post.
City administrator Mandy Asbury said 10 pallets of bottled water were donated, which adds up to over 800 cases of water for residents. Around 5 p.m., an ABC 17 News reporter checked in, and the city had given out about half of the pallets.
"We're going to be able to give out some cases of water to our residents just to help ease the burden during our current boil order," Asbury said.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources placed the city on a mandatory boil order Tuesday. In a notice sent to Asbury, the department found total coliform exceeding regulations on May 20, and found E. coli in a follow-up test Monday.
"We're doing everything we can to get it cleared up, and to get this situation taken care of. No one wants this to last another three weeks. And so we are very hopeful and optimistic that we can have this cleared up in a week," Asbury said.
The last boil order issued for the city in late 2025 and lasted about three weeks.
To do that, the city started emergency chlorination Wednesday afternoon to disinfect the water and kill any bacteria. If everything goes as planned, Asbury said the boil order will be lifted Tuesday.
Asbury said how the water got contaminated is still unknown.
The city will continue discussions on preventing another E. coli contamination with the DNR following the boil order lift. Asbury said one option on the table is a permanent chlorine system.
Lance Dorsey, DNR's compliance and enforcement section chief, said that plan would need to be submitted to his office.
"We're telling them to use the equipment in the short term, but then get an engineer to design a permanent chlorination solution and submit that to us for approval," Dorsey said.
Asbury said the city is also working to replace the current piping system, which is made of outdated cast-iron pipes, as roads need to be fixed.
Jewell Fabrication and Repair is also handing out free cases of water to Eldon residents, according to a Facebook post. People can drive by the shop, located at 206 Short St., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or until water cases run out.
Check back for updates.
