Ross Twp. Family Pleads For Help After Drinking Water Tests Positive For E. Coli

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ROSS TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A Ross Township family is pleading for help after finding out their drinking water is contaminated.

The Peluso's bought their home on Upper Arrowhead Road 25 years ago. For the last decade, they have been fighting off illness after illness.

"Kind of out of the blue, our family started getting really sick and we were sick for about two years. We didn't know what was wrong," homeowner Mary Peluso said.

A few years ago, the Peluso's and several other neighbors got their well water tested by the Allegheny County Health Department. In 2016, the health department sent a letter to the homeowners which showed five out of six homes tested positive for E. Coli. The health department said it posed a public health concern.

"They tested everybody in this area that has well water and all of them except one was contaminated with bacteria. It took me a long time to find somebody who would actually give it any kind of attention whatsoever," Peluso said.

Since then, the Peluso's and other neighbors haven't had a resolution to their contaminated water. Most of the homeowners would like to tap into the main water line for public water, but it's too costly. West View Water Authority sent a letter to Peluso estimating the cost to be close to $200,000.

Peluso is now calling on the DEP and the county for help. The family says it's a public health concern that needs attention.

"We have bacteria and we don't even know what other kind of contamination lies in the water systems. Everybody in Ross Township has clean water, except for us, and we're taxpayers too," Peluso said.

Drinking water inspections are no longer conducted by the county health department; it switched over to the DEP last year.

The DEP told KDKA News they do not regulate private water wells.