There are 465 residential and commercial water users in Fonda, Montgomery County who have not had potable water for three weeks straight. Meanwhile, people in the adjacent town of Mohawk remain under a boil water order, along with people in Fonda.

Local officials have been trying to find a solution for three weeks, but are unable to say when everything will be back to normal.

The problem began back on June 27, in the middle of the night. That’s when the water filtration plant failure occurred, emptying out the village water tank at the reservoir.

Filtration plant operators would typically receive an immediate message that something went wrong.

However, someone who had been out mowing at the time of the failure severed a communications line, which meant no emergency message was received. The system became overwhelmed, and filtration shut down. The village has committed more than $2 million to correct the issue.

In the meantime, there have been several bottled water distribution events that are ongoing. The water has been donated by Stewart’s, Walmart, and Chrystal Geyser.

There was another meeting at the filtration plant on Monday afternoon.

Fonda Mayor Bill Peeler and his team are doing everything they can to remedy the situation as quickly as they can, the mayor said.

“Questions have been raised. We had a discoloration of the system last week. That was a fluke because we had to move water in the system. For most people, if you’re on a heavy usage line, that lasted about eight to 10 hours. For other people, it lasted longer,” said Keeler.

NewsChannel 13 asked him when this would end.

“We can’t tell you that because we have to get enough negative water results to show that the water is 100% safe before we can say stop the boiled water,” he said.

Peeler recommended visiting the New York State Department of Health website for safety information.
To find out more about times and locations for bottled water giveaways, you can check out the Village of Fonda website.