Volunteer firefighters of the Bourbon Fire Protection District (BFPD) on June 16 addressed the boil order in Bourbon with the board of aldermen.

The June 15 boil order was implemented due to possible backflow and/or siphonage after a hydrant was opened June 12 for Crawford County R-1’s water day. However, opening the fire hydrant caused the water pressure to drop to five PSI, which may have led to contamination in the public water system. Water Administrator Mark McEuen said that anything below 25 PSI would cause a boil order, so the city sent off three water samples daily for testing. The boil order was canceled on June 18.

Between June 12, when the hydrant was opened, and June 18, when the boil order ended, City Hall received about five calls from families on Park, Eden, Johnson, Frontier and Hickory streets about residents becoming sick after drinking the water. Officials took water samples and sent them to a lab to test for E. coli and coliform, and both returned negative. It is unknown what caused this sudden outbreak of sickness.

Fire Chief Tim Ware asked where the accusations that the boil order was the BFPD’s fault were coming from.

“Well, there’s multiple accusations that were thrown out. I would like to know where the mayor comes up with this information,” Ware said. “Mr. Mayor blamed the water situation on the fire department, and I’m just trying to understand how the fire department caused it by hooking up a hydrant and causing a negative vacuum.”

He said that he can guarantee the pressure didn’t drop below five PSI while in use, but McEuen said anything below 25 PSI would cause a boil order.

Jason Delshamit, with the BFPD, said that would mean the city would need a boil order twice a year during required hydrant testing.

“Keep that in mind, twice a year…to shut down the businesses in the town to do testing,” Delashmit said.

Delashmit also requested the hydrant reports. He said in 2022, the BFPD was told to stop testing the hydrants or they would be responsible for any damages sustained during the effort. 

Huddleston said that he and McEuen have been in discussion about securing the tools, metering and equipment to start the process. They are unsure when or if the hydrants were last tested.

Alderman Ward 1 Margie Brine asked about how many times the BFPD hooked up to a hydrant in the last year, and whether the city had to boil water afterward.

Ware said it was only about three times in the last year, and if the pressure dropped to five PSI, then McEuen said a boil order would’ve needed to go into effect.

Brine asked why the pressure dropped this time, and McEuen said that the water line in that spot may have just been smaller than in other areas.

Ware asked how many water studies have been done in the last 10 years, and what was being done with them.

“Do you guys just pocket that information and then pay for another study? What is done with these studies?” Ware asked.

Alderman Ward 2 Mary Heywood said that a lot of money has been spent on the studies because, to apply for grants, a study is necessary to back it up. 

Ware wanted to know how the city decided that the BFPD can’t operate at full capacity.

“I’m just trying to understand where, over the years, why we have went from kind of ish systems to what we have now that can’t even do fire protection for anybody in the city,” Ware said. “We need to make major accommodations…if there’s a fire in town, because obviously we cannot hook up to a hydrant. So everybody in town needs to be aware that we’re going to have to haul in water to fight any kind of fire in town.”

Huddleston said it is his understanding that state law allows the use of hydrants for emergency purposes, even if it causes a boil order.

Ware said that the water system is a large reason that insurance rates in Bourbon go up.

“For the ISO (Insurance Services Office) ratings for our area…we get 30 points out of 100 for…the city’s water system,” Ware said. “We were docked…29 points for the water system in Bourbon.”

Brine said that they have worked on multiple city water projects, and apologized that it doesn’t meet the ISO standard.