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"Don't believe the rumors. All of the rumors are false," Boehmer said. "We don't know how this happened. It could've been a building project, something wrong at the sample site or a sampling error."
Mayor Dick Stratman agreed, recalling a time when he was being interviewed on a local radio station and heard a rumor that the new treatment plant was the cause of the contamination.
"The treatment plant has nothing to do with the water lines," Stratman said.
"Patients First also feels they are getting blamed for the E. coli," the mayor noted, "but based on documentation, they followed all of the protocols during the construction at that time."
Boehmer said the investigation is still ongoing and no cause has been determined yet.
"We don't want to see people get a black eye if they don't deserve it," Boehmer said.
The city of Washington has five sampling sites that are tested twice a month. The water samples are sent to a Missouri Department of Natural Resources lab.
Samples at the testing site on 14th Street were positive for E. coli bacteria two days in a row, July 15 and 16, which prompted the DNR to issue the citywide boil order.
The order was lifted about a week later after two consecutive samples taken at the same site tested negative for E. coli.
Boehmer said city staff is considering changing sample sites "to get a better picture. Our city and water lines have grown over the years."
While the city has had several water main breaks, it has never experienced a contamination problem like this before, Boehmer noted.
Councilman Tim Overschmidt asked if investigators expect to find a "definitive answer" to ensure that the contamination never occurs again.
"If the water from the river is mixing with our drinking water, is there a way to say this is where the leak was. I think the general public wants to hear that," Overschmidt said.
With several miles of water lines throughout the city, Boehmer explained it would be difficult to find the exact source of where E. coli got into the water system.
"I don't know if we'll be able to pinpoint exactly what happened, but we're hopeful," Boehmer said.
Reverse 911
At Wednesday's meeting, Boehmer also notified council members that the city's communications office recently has updated its list of phone numbers on the Reverse 911 system used to notify residences and businesses of the boil order.
City staff also are considering using another calling system called Mass Call, Boehmer explained.
"However, with Mass Call, we would have to use their program instead of using our 11 land lines," he said.
Councilman John Rhodes expressed concern with the current system, saying he received notification about 20 hours after the boil order went into effect.
"I was worried about people with sensitive health issues," Rhodes said.
Boehmer responded that he was unaware of any reports of people being sick from the E. coli in the water and that it takes time for city personnel to make 7,000 calls to phone numbers in the system.
The mayor said the Reverse 911 calls were first made to businesses and homes in the immediate area of the sample site that tested positive for E. coli and when the boil order was lifted.
"The hospital, Patients First and The Homestead at Hickory View were the most vulnerable because they were near the site," Stratman said. "We really need to find a way to notify people who don't have land lines. We need to add cell numbers."
Councilman Jeff Mohesky suggested using e-mail alerts as an alternate way to contact people in the future and council member Tim Buddemeyer recommended requesting the use of the Missouri Department of Transportation's message boards to alert people coming into the city.
