The Gray Water District has issued a boil water order for all its customers until further notice.

The Gray Water District has issued a boil water order until further notice. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The district is directing customers to boil all water at least one minute before drinking it, washing foods, brushing teeth or “any other activity involving consumption of water,” it said in the order. The order does not apply to private wells.

In the order, issued Wednesday evening, the district says there is a “possibility of unsafe water” but did not elaborate on the specific risks or possible sources of contamination.

Bill Gardner, superintendent of the water district, said a sample he collected Tuesday “got a hit for E. coli” above the safe threshold. The results came back Wednesday, prompting the order, he said.

Gardner said he hopes to resolve the contamination and lift the order within the next few days. In the meantime, he will conduct further testing and possibly run some fire hydrants to draw water through the system.

Samples taken from the district’s water source have come back clean, Gardner said, and he believes the water is becoming contaminated somewhere in its journey through the main line, which has suffered some recent breaks.

“We feel like we’re at the root of the problem, and we’re getting it handled,” Gardner said on a Wednesday evening phone call.

The Gray Fire Department is distributing up to six bottles of water per family at its Shaker Road station until 8 p.m., the department said in a statement. The department is awaiting a larger delivery of bottled water, it said.

Updates will be posted to the town’s website and social media pages. Meanwhile, residents with questions are asked to call the district at 657-3500.