Foul odor prompts water probe at Cedarbrook nursing home

Nov. 26--Cedarbrook nursing home in South Whitehall has temporarily halted the use of tap water at the facility after a staff employee reported a foul odor coming from a hot water faucet Sunday.

The Lehigh County-owned nursing home has been providing bottled water to residents, cooking with bottled water and using disposable dishes and plastic ware while it awaits results of water testing, according to Rick Molchany, the county's general services director.

He said a nurse at the home reported smelling a petroleum odor, prompting a response from the county's emergency management team, a hazardous material team, the South Whitehall Township Water and Sewer Authority as well as other county and Cedarbrook officials.

The water issue affects about 435 residents.

Molchany said he's hopeful that those test results will be made available Wednesday. He said testing already has ruled out the presence of bacteria in the water. He said additional testing was done to determine if there were any other type of contaminants in the water.

"The system has been flushed, but we will not know until tomorrow what caused the odor," Molchany said. "But we do not smell the odor now after it has been flushed.

"We're taking precautions for the residents and staff."

Molchany said the state departments of Health and Environmental Protection have been contacted and that those agencies could not pinpoint a problem. He said officials are looking into what recent maintenance may have been done on the system.

State Department of Health spokeswoman Holli Senior said any water issues would be a "reportable event" that is confidential.

"The department would expect that the facility would implement an acceptable plan to ensure the residents received water as needed during an emergency regarding a water problem," Senor wrote in an email. "All nursing homes are required by regulation to have an emergency plan in place in the event of an emergency of any type."

Bob Ibach, South Whitehall Township's public works manager, said Tuesday that it's "not a township issue."

"I know they're having some issues there, but it doesn't involve our water system," he said.

Ibach said testing done on Sunday indicated that there were no problems with the water going into the building.

Susan Winders, whose 92-year-old mother is a Cedarbrook resident, said she's concerned about he problem. But she and her husband John said that the home's administration has been responsive to their questions.

"It's not a dire situation, but it's not a situation you want to live with for an extended period of time," John Winders said. "They're doing the best they can with what they have. We're keeping our fingers crossed."

patrick.lester@mcall.com

Twitter @plester6

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