The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that residents in Summerville, Georgia, could be under a water advisory for up to a year until the city can update its water treatment equipment.

The water advisory is for the elderly, pregnant people, infants and children, but city manager Janice Galloway tells the newspaper she’s heard from many residents who won’t consume the water.

The problem originated in January when the city’s treatment plant returned test results that showed elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid. EPA standards for those chemicals were lowered in 2016 from 600 ppt to 70 ppt. Summerville’s treatment plant had levels at 98 ppt.

Kentucky Woman Sentenced for Breaking Into Water Treatment Plant

A woman from Sebree, Kentucky, recently pleaded guilty to breaking into a water treatment plant in Madisonville and stealing property.

The woman, Vonda Calbreath, was sentenced to 90 days' probation and handed down a $100 fine plus $319 in court costs.

According to police, Calbreath squeezed through the facility’s gate and stole a city pickup truck that was unlocked with the keys inside.

“We’ve already done some things to improve security at that gate,” the plant’s supervisor tells The Messenger.

Water Employee in Georgia Pleads Guilty to Stealing Bill Payment Money

A former employee working for the City of Cartersville, Georgia, water department recently was sentenced to 18 months of house arrest after pleading guilty to 10 counts of theft by deception.

Authorities say Kanneya Delon Brown-Cooley defrauded at least six customers in the spring of 2018.

“Several victims in this case contacted the water department, saying that they would make payments to Mrs. Brown-Cooley, to be applied to their bills,” Cherokee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Joshua Wyatt tells The Daily Tribune News. “The payments were never applied to the bills … there was surveillance that showed her putting the money in her pocket, in her purse, different locations.”

The city’s insurance company paid more than $58,000 in restitution to the customers who were defrauded.

Sewer Workers in Florida Share Photos of Wipes Clog at WWTP

Sewer workers for Gainesville (Florida) Regional Utilities recently spent 30 hours cleaning up a huge wad of flushable wipes — which they’re calling a “sewage fruitcake” — at its wastewater treatment plant.

GRU is urging its customers not to flush wipes into the sewers and recently shared some images on Facebook: