DENMARK, S.C. - A faulty chlorinator at the Voorhees Road well in this town prompted a boil-water advisory that has not yet been lifted.

The boil-water advisory comes on the heels of another advisory that was issued -- and since lifted -- after five water pipe leaks occurred in different areas of the Denmark system following severe thunderstorms during the week of July 20-26.

Denmark City Administrator Heyward Robinson said the most recent advisory was issued Thursday, but the problem was corrected within hours.

“There was a malfunction in a chlorinator at one of the wells. Just as a precautionary measure, DHEC (S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control) requires that we issue a boil-water advisory, which we did. We’ve run some sample tests since they issued the boil-water advisory, and we expect to get those results back,” Heyward said.

“Until we get the results back, the boil-water advisory is still in effect,” he said, noting that it is requested that water be boiled for one full minute before use.

The city has also since terminated its public works director, David Pittman, who reported during a July 29 Denmark City Council meeting a litany of current and potential problems with the municipal water system. He reported that other water system problems that will require attention and additional money for improvement included the town’s fire hydrants, 75-year-old water-delivery pipe and sewer overflows.

“We don’t get into personnel matters. He’s just been terminated. I believe that was Friday (Aug. 1),” Heyward said of Pittman’s termination. He said Daniel Norton, who worked as the assistant to the public works director, is assuming Pittman’s responsibilities.

Jennifer Hughes is a drinking water manager in the environmental and quality control office of the Aiken-based Lower Savannah District Office of the state DHEC. Hughes said the advisory was a precaution.

“They have the treatment problems repaired at the well now, and they have pulled samples. If everything turns out good (with testing), they’ll be repealing the boil-water advisory notice. DHEC also pulled some contamination samples. They’re bacteriological samples to confirm there’s no contamination,” Hughes said.

“Unofficially, we don’t think there’s a problem, but we have to abide by the rules that we have,” Robinson said.

Hardee’s was one local restaurants that remained closed Friday following the city’s boil-water advisory. Manager Lynette Davis said the store would be reopened once the advisory is lifted.

“They didn’t force us to close,” said Davis, noting that some restaurants such as the local McDonald’s remained open.

McDonald’s manager Fred Kruckow, however, said it wasn’t easy and DHEC-recommended guidelines were taken as precautionary measures.

“We’re just following DHEC guidelines that they send out. We’re basically purchasing water, sodas and ice from other vendors: bottled water and sodas. This is a kind of hardship for us. We’ve got a few products that we can’t sell with the boil-water advisory,” said Kruckow, noting this is not the first time a boil-water advisory in the city changed the restaurant chain’s way of doing things.

“Last year when this happened, we just about bought the grocery store out of Coke products. It’s not an easy deal, but we’ll do whatever the city tells us we need to do,” Kruckow said.

Melissa Tyler, environmental health manager at the Bamberg County Health Department, handles restaurant inspections. She said she contacted every restaurant in the city about the advisory, with the decision to close their doors or not left to them.

“It’s under their own discretion. If they can handle the situation without closing, then they can stay open. I didn’t realize some had closed,” she said. Fliers of what to do when a water-related emergency occurs are distributed to restaurant chains and include the following DHEC recommendations: stop using appliances and equipment that use drinkable water such as dish machines, ice machines and drinking fountains; use disposable paper, plastic or foam plates, cups, forks, etc. and wash, rinse and sanitize pots and other equipment with cooled boiled water.

Robinson has said the town’s plan is to drill two new wells, a project that will become a reality with the town’s receipt of a $860,200 Community Development Block Grant through the state Department of Commerce.

“A feasibility study has been completed, and we have been granted the grant. They were not going to release that money until after that study was done,” said Heyward, referring to a study conducted on the feasibility of a county-wide water and wastewater system.

The city has tapped Orangeburg-based Engineering Resources Corp. as its engineering firm for the project, which is now under way, the administrator said.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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