Crossed Pipes Had Family Drinking Wastewater

Jenny Albano

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A family in Raleigh discovered they had been drinking treated wastewater used for watering lawns when workers shut off an irrigation pipe in their neighborhood. All the neighbors had tap water, but their sprinklers were not working. The Jain family had the opposite, they could water their lawn but had no tap water. Somehow their piping got switched.

Now officials have been checking other homes in the neighborhood to make sure they don't have this problem. Cary Public Works believe that this is a unique situation.

State regulations ban water systems from using the treated wastewater for drinking water. Cary officials said the risks are low, and that someone must drink a lot of water in one sitting to get an infectious dose of coliform bacteria.

Vinay Jain thought his tap water tasted funny, and now that he knows why he is not pleased. The family had been drinking the wastewater for almost five months. Jain and his wife are now "second-guessing" their children's stomach aches.