Though Islanders are no longer boiling their water before drinking it, the city is continuing to deal with the aftermath of the two recent E. coli scares.

Mercer Island is spending $700 per day on its expanded water quality monitoring program, as part of an action plan approved by the state Department of Health (DOH).

“This monitoring work has been an interim measure in response to the discovery of contamination,” said Maintenance Director Glenn Boettcher.

In addition, the 2015-16 Preliminary Budget was revised to reflect past, present and future costs relating to water quality. Finance Director Chip Corder put a $250,000 ongoing “placeholder” in the budget to cover some of the programs and personnel needed, including contract services and possibly adding two new water crew members to help with flushing.

The city hired an outside consultant, Confluence WTIC, and is expecting a report from them at the Council meeting on Nov. 3, with “fairly well-formed recommendations” on Nov. 17, Boettcher said.

“We’ve given them a small mountain of data and they’re chewing on it now,” Boettcher said.

Councilmembers are hoping that the experts will discover the source of the contamination, though nothing has been identified yet. It’s common to never find the “smoking gun,” said DOH officials.

Councilmember Debbie Bertlin, who also sits on the city’s Utility Board, said she is concerned about the age and state of the Island’s water system infrastructure.

“That doesn’t go away, E. coli or not,” Bertlin said. “There’s a whole lot of stuff that needs to be updated underground on this Island.”

The current cost of the water situation is $150,000, Corder estimated. The purchase and installation of mixing equipment to stabilize chlorine levels in the city’s reservoirs will cost about $100,000.

The money for continued sampling and testing is coming from the Water Fund. The cost is based on the number of samples, and city crews have consistently been collecting 15 samples each day, Boettcher said.

In coordination with Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), the city is putting the finishing touches on an expanded monitoring program, which may include nine new sampling sites in addition to the five sampling sites that have been used on the Island for years, Boettcher said.

The new plan will be implemented once it is approved by the DOH.

“In the meantime, we plan to ask DOH to allow us to continue daily monitoring at a somewhat reduced level,” Boettcher said.

The revised budget reflects a .5 percent  increase in utility rates from the first version of the budget, which went to print before the ‘boil water’ advisories. Rates will go up 7 percent in 2015 and 5.5 percent in 2016, instead of 6.5 percent and 5 percent.

Deputy Mayor Dan Grausz said water safety is something the city will continue to prioritize, but that financial decisions shouldn’t be made without a better idea of the recommendations and how much they will actually cost.

“This is something that rocked this community … We don’t have to do this now,” he said. “If we have to do a supplemental increase, we do a supplemental increase (of utility rates).”