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UPDATE: The boil-water notice was lifted Friday, the Arkansas Department of Health said.

Bacteriological samples taken on Wednesday, July 10, 2019 and Thursday, July 11, 2019 were found to be free of bacterial contamination and a satisfactory disinfectant level has been established throughout the distribution system. The water is therefore considered ‘Safe’ for human consumption and the ‘Boil Water’ notice is hereby lifted.

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EARLIER:

EARLE, Ark. — A boil-water notice remains in effect after E. coli was detected in some of the water in Earle, Arkansas.

State health officials were in Earle, Arkansas on Thursday gathering samples to take back to be tested. Now they’re asking residents to boil water before it’s used.

“It’s very concerning . Especially when I think about my grandchildren that have been drinking this water,” resident Patricia Johnson said.

Mayor Sherman Smith Sr. was with state officials on Thursday. He says initial tests detected E. coli in one of the June water supply samples. When a second test was done, Coliforms, a type of bacteria found in soil, was found.

The mayor says he believes the problem is coming form one testing spot. He wouldn’t say where the home was, but said the person there is aware.

“We feel like, and The Health Department feels like, this house is an isolated house,” he said. “When we went back and tested it this morning, the faucet was almost on the ground. We feel like it was a splash from the water that maybe got in the bottle somehow, urine from animals and so forth like that.”

The mayor says the only time you need to boil water is if you plan on using it for cooking or drinking.

While officials might think the problem is isolated, they’re taking no chances. They hope to have the results of the tests by this weekend.

A spokesperson from the Arkansas State Health Department said the results should be in sometime next week.

“Once the system has samples from two different days that show the water is free of bacterial contamination and an adequate disinfectant level, the boil order will be lifted,” the spokesperson said.