Fredonia is asking residents to boil water when there is obviously a better, 21st century solution. Purchase water from Dunkirk.

As the leading supplier for the North County Water District, the city has the capacity to send water to users of the village system. According to village Mayor Doug Essek last week, it may be a week until the problem is fixed due to the filters not being replaced in a timely manner.

“Once those are replaced then we can lift the boil water order, we’ll be looking to do that … Friday,” Essek said. “It’s going to be at least a week though.”

To their credit, village staff and officials were handing out bottled water over the weekend. It was a nice gesture, but having Dunkirk supply Fredonia users — without worrying about the boil order — would have been easier for residents.