DUANESBURG — Boil the water before brushing your teeth. Boil the water before drinking a glass of tap water. Boil the water before using it to cook. Otherwise, risk ingesting microbes.
That’s how Patrick Loucks and his partner, Pamela Merwin, have been living for a year at the Hillcrest Villas Mobile Home Park in Duanesburg, after Schenectady County issued a boil-water order that has been in effect since Aug. 17, 2025.
The county issued the order after discovering that residents in the front portion of the park had lost water service. Since then, they have continued experiencing recurring water outages and shortages. Frank Salamone, a county attorney, said the order has been left in place because the park’s management has not provided tests proving the water is safe to consume. As Salamone put it, there is no proof the water is unsafe, but there also is no proof that it is safe…