MAYVILLE – On Wednesday, the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services received water testing results from the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Laboratory for the village of Forestville public water supply. These samples were collected by CCDHHS staff directly from each of the village’s two wells before any treatment on May 5.

The samples were tested for 148 chemical compounds including petroleum byproducts, herbicides, pesticides, inorganic contaminants and metals, and bacteria. The results indicate that the water is safe to drink.

It should be noted that all drinking water, including bottled drinking water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that water poses a health risk as some “contaminants” are considered to be solely related to cosmetic issues such as taste, odor, etc. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services at 716-753-4481 or visiting www.epa.gov.

The CCDHHS has requested that the New York State Department of Health and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation conduct an independent and comprehensive review of the Forestville wells and public water supply system. This will include the NYSDOH collecting additional water samples from Forestville’s two wells.