People in Elkton are boiling their water to make sure they don't get sick, after contaminates were found in the water supply.

Town leaders are trying to get the Elkton well site running so people don't have to resort to boiling water for cooking and drinking anymore.

"The biggest thing to understand is that the water has been this way probably for many years, for as long as that spring has been under operation. However, officially the town recommends that all water is boiled for food preparation and consumption," says Reid Wodicka, Elkton's town manager.

"There could be potentially harmful micro-organisms that could get into the Elkton water that are not inactivated by the treatment, which is chlorine disinfection, that they have in place now," says Jim Moore, with the Virginia Department of Health Office of Drinking Water in Lexington.

According to documents from the state Department of Health, the Mount Pleasant spring, or Elkton spring, has tested high for total coliform bacteria for a few months.

In May, records show the water source had 109 organisms per 100 milliliters of sample water. In June, that number increased to 365 organisms per 100 milliliters. Finally, there was a big spike last week with 2,419 organisms per 100 milliliters of sample water.

"If the conditions are right for the total coliform to survive, then the potential exists for some harmful organisms to survive," says Moore.

Wodicka hasn't gotten reports of people being sick, except for people sick of boiling their water.

"We've had a lot of confusion, a lot of misunderstanding of why this is happening, why this is happening now. People are concerned, obviously, about their health. However, if people follow the guidelines, that should not be a problem," says Wodicka.

The boil water advisory is certainly not just an inconvenience. It's costing some restaurants in the town money.

At Ciro's and at El Paso Mexican Grill, managers say they're spending hundreds of dollars extra every day because of the advisory.

They've had to buy large jugs of water and bags of ice to serve guests. They also had to buy bottled soda, since fountain drinks are out of the question.

"The customers seem to be dealing with it fairly well. They know when they walk in the door and have the bottled water and bottled soda displayed that we're doing the best we can to work with them," says Brenda Fraykar, manager of Ciro's and El Paso Mexican Grill.

Managers say, when they got word of the boil water advisory, they started taking drinks off tables right away.

Wodicka says the goal is still to have the new water source running by August 24. He wouldn't comment on the possibility of it getting done any earlier than that.