Customers of the Columbia Adair Utilities District have received a letter with their monthly bill reporting that a routine water sample collected on Sept. 26, 2025 tested positive for total coliform bacteria.
CAUD Manager Bradley Miller told the Community Voice that Adair County’s water was safe last September and continues to be safe. He is confident that the test result was in error and a follow-up test result came back negative.
Because of what could have been a technology glitch, the district was required to send out the notices, but Miller said customers of the district do not need to be concerned.
“I have a wife and four kids that live in the same county. I drink the same water that everybody else does. And I have full confidence in our water,” Miller said.
After the first test showed a positive for total coliform bacteria, Miller said they followed state and federal drinking water regulations and immediately collected repeat samples the following day.
Those samples tested negative, confirming that the water in the distribution system is safe, Miller said. He submitted a notification on Oct. 2 to the Kentucky Division of Water indicating that the follow-up samples were clear. Officials at DOW said they did not receive the notification, however, and the state issued a Tier 2 monitoring/reporting violation notice.
“This notice was issued due to a reporting/communication issue, not because of unsafe drinking water,” Miller said.
The Community Voice has received copies of the documents reflecting the results of both water analyses that confirm Miller’s timeline and results of the testing.
Miller said when he got the notification of the positive test, he knew it could not be correct.
“I knew it wasn’t right. I knew there was nothing wrong with our water. I knew it was human error,” he said.
Anyone who would like more information can contact Miller at CAUD at 270-384-2181.
By Sharon Burton
snburton@adairvoice.com
