Mysterious Glitch Poisons Town Water Supply

The town of Spencer, Massachusetts, population 1,200, is trying to figure out why its water treatment plant flooded the water supply with enough sodium hydroxide to cause chemical burns to nearly 100 residents.

Town administrator Carter Terenzini declared (.pdf) a state of emergency Wednesday morning, and local officials erected a decontamination and triage center, and began passing out bottled water. (Photo). Today the water department finished flushing out the entire system. From the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:

Donnamarie Mesite, of 64 Cherry St., was one of the Spencer residents treated at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester. She said she was brushing her teeth about 8:30 a.m. yesterday when she got a call from a friend at Town Hall telling her not to drink the water, that it had been contaminated.

"All of a sudden, it was burning," she said, adding that she could feel her lips and throat burning.

She said she called the Fire Department, which sent an ambulance. Ms. Mesite said she was sharing the ambulance with someone who had taken a shower and was burned all over.

"It was really scary, I’ll tell you," she said. "We didn’t know what was going on."

She said she was lucky because she hadn’t taken a shower yet. Ms. Mesite said she doesn’t blame anyone, and that it just seems to be an accident.

“I’ll tell you, I’m really confused right now. I’m afraid to even go in the shower,” she said.

School Superintendent Ralph E. Hicks said a dozen students had shown symptoms from drinking or washing or bathing with town water during the course of the school day.

Sodium hydroxide is used in small quantities to reduce water acidity and inhibit pipe corrosion. But the Spencer treatment plant's chemical feeder system malfunctioned and added far too much to the mix.

What isn't clear is whether it was human error, or a software or hardware problem. A spokeswoman for Terenzini told THREAT LEVEL that the exact cause of the incident is still a mystery. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is investigating.