A large algal bloom in the Fredonia reservoir in August may have been the root cause of Fredonia’s water problems.

And it could take up to another week before the water is safe to drink.

On Thursday night, the Chautauqua County Board of Health met via zoom. One of the topics discussed was Fredonia’s boil water order. Village residents were told Sept. 10 to not consume any of the water that comes out of their taps. Paul Snyder, a professional engineer with the county Department of Health and Human Services addressed the issue.

Snyder noted how over the past few years, Fredonia has been dealing with a number of water main breaks, which has prompted short boil water orders. But this time the issue is different.

“This is primarily with their water plant,” he said.

The boil water order was enacted due to the turbidity, which exceeded state standards.

“What was kind of alarming was that starting around the middle of August you could see it (turbidities) starting to creep up. Then by the end of August, they just got to the point where their turbidities had exceeded the 95% (state standard),” Snyder explained.

See a complete story in Friday’s edition of the OBSERVER.