A boil water alert for Fisher Ferry Water District customers was lifted Thursday after the state Health Department lab found no more E. coli bacteria in the system.

&#8220We received the all-clear at 11:30 a.m.,” said director Cheryl Van Norman.

Earlier tests showed the bacteria, which is very common but can make people sick if ingested.

&#8220We had a problem with a chlorinator,” Van Norman said. &#8220It was corrected before the first sample came back.”

That sample was positive, so the district ramped up measures – including issuing fliers – to warn customers.

More than two days of testing and reporting to health officials followed, along with &#8220heavy chlorinating,” before the water tested clear.

Private water associations such as Fisher Ferry as well as muncipal systems are required to issue notices to customers in the event of any line break or loss of pressure. Such events can allow contaminants to enter the system or to grow. Most notices are precautionary and remain in place until samples are taken and tested, a lab process that requires time to grow cultures.

In this event, E. Coli was actually detected.

The infrastructure at the district’s water treatment plant on Nailor Road across from South Park Elementary was completed in January 2006.

Fisher Ferry is the second-largest of five water systems serving portions of Warren County outside Vicksburg. It provides water to residents in the south-central part of the county outside Vicksburg city limits, between Fisher Ferry and Halls Ferry roads, south to Jeff Davis Road.

The largest is Culkin Water District, which serves the northeastern section of the county.