Chlordane in the Water Main

In October, 1979, approximately three gallons of chlordane, a highly toxic insecticide, was sucked back (back-siphoned) into the water system of a residential area of a good sized eastern city. Residents complained that the water “looked milky, felt greasy, foamed and smelled,” and as one woman put it, “It was similar to a combination of kerosene and Black Flag pesticide.”

The problem developed while water department personnel were repairing a water main. A professional exterminator, meanwhile, was treating a nearby home with chlordane for termite elimination. The workman for the exterminator company left one end of a garden hose that was connected to an outside hose bibb tap in a barrel of diluted pesticide. During the water service interruption, the chlordane solution was backsiphoned from the barrel through the house and into the water mains.

Following numerous complaints, the water department undertook an extensive program of flushing of the water mains and hand delivered letters telling residents to flush their lines for four hours before using the water. Until the water lines were clear of the contaminant, water was hand-hauled into homes, and people went out of their homes for showers, meals and every other activity involving potable water. Fortunately, due to the obvious bad taste, odor and color of the contaminated water, no one consumed a sufficient quantity to endanger health.Following numerous complaints, the water department undertook an extensive program of flushing of the water mains and hand delivered letters telling residents to flush their lines for four hours before using the water. Until the water lines were clear of the contaminant, water was hand-hauled into homes, and people went out of their homes for showers, meals and every other activity involving potable water. Fortunately, due to the obvious bad taste, odor and color of the contaminated water, no one consumed a sufficient quantity to endanger health.