The state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the owner of Shadyside Village, a low-income housing development with 200 residents in Armstrong County, to permanently fix its water supply, which has been contaminated since mid-November.

The DEP order, issued this morning, requires the development's owner, K.H. Real Estate LLC, to submit a plan to provide a permanent, potable water supply within 14 days. The well water that supplies the development's 45 households has been contaminated by its own malfunctioning septic system, the DEP said, and the owner has been trucking in water to meet daily residential needs.

If K.H. Real Estate is unable to comply with DEP's order, the firm may have to shut down the development and relocate its tenants. The DEP has notified officials of the Armstrong County Community Action Agency of that possibility.

"The health and safety of Shadyside Village residents are DEP's top priority in this case, said Kenneth Bowman, DEP regional director. "We recognize that if the owner cannot provide to its tenants safe, clean water, Shadyside Village residents may be relocated."

Shadyside Village is a low-income development with 41 single family or duplex rental properties and four owner-occupied homes, owned by K.H. Real Estate in West Franklin Township. Some of the rental dwellings are federally subsidized Section 8 housing.

"The owner is required to provide habitable housing, including a clean, safe water supply to renters," Helen Humphreys, a DEP spokeswoman, said. "It would be irresponsible for us to allow them to do otherwise."

DEP investigators first tested the Shadyside Village well water on Nov. 19 and found it "highly contaminated" with fecal coliform, an indication that human waste is finding its way into the ground water. The department issued residents a "boil water advisory" on Nov. 24, and then a "do not use advisory," and subsequently a field order requiring the development's owners to provide a temporary clean water source on Dec. 12.

In response, K.H. Real Estate began trucking water at a cost of approximately $2,500 a week to a water tank or "buffalo" at the development where residents could draw water.

The realty company owners, Albert Krick and Beatrice Hartman, have told the DEP that they don't have the financial resources to continue doing that, Ms. Humphreys said.

"But that's not a good reason," she said. "We will require this landlord to provide clean, safe water to his residents."