Stonington and Westerly officials have reached agreement on a document in which Westerly will be required to report any problem with its water system to Stonington officials within two to three hours of the problem's discovery.

Wednesday’s agreement, which still has to be formally approved by the Westerly Town Council, comes after Stonington First Selectman Rob Simmons criticized Westerly Town Manager Derrik Kennedy and Public Works Director Paul Corina for not informing residents about a water problem last week, not using the police department’s emergency alert system to do so and waiting to tell him until the next day. The Westerly Water Co. provides water to Pawcatuck residents.

Police said that a teenage girl who lives in a house on Elm Ridge Road first noticed the problem while taking a shower Feb. 9 and told her father, who also felt the burning sensation. Both declined medical treatment.

The water company, though, had discovered a problem on Feb. 8 and worked to address it before the report by the girl and her father the next day. An equipment malfunction resulted in a higher than normal level of potassium hydroxide being injected into the water, which raised its pH.

The water company issued a public explanation of the problem on Tuesday night.

At Wednesday night’s Stonington Board of Selectmen meeting, which was attended by Kennedy, Corina and Westerly town councilors, Simmons said he apologized to Kennedy and Corina for stories in the media based on his critical comments that may have embarrassed or upset them.

The memorandum of understanding states that Stonington, Westerly and the Ledge Light Health District (which serves Stonington) agree to work together to ensure an adequate and potable supply of water will be available to the Town of Stonington and to assure that the public is informed of all matters related to water supply and quality in a timely and comprehensive manner.

It further states that notification within two to three hours shall be made “to a live person” using a call list. The notification should include information such as the reason for the problem, areas of town that are affected, the expected time to restore safe drinking water, recommendations for the public regarding interim measures to lessen the chances of illness and recommendations for what actions the public should take when the water is restored, such as running the water for a period of time.

Simmons said Thursday that he was not criticizing Westerly response to the problem but how the problem was communicated to the public.

“If there is a problem with the water, we all need to communicate effectively so people on both sides of the (Pawcatuck) river are informed,” he said.

j.wojtas@theday.com