Drinking Water Warning
The Thunder Ridge Water System, 10882001, located in Island County is contaminated with E. coli bacteria.
E. coli bacteria were confirmed in the water supply on October 14th, 2011. These bacteria can make you sick and are a particular concern for people with weakened immune systems.
DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a rolling boil for 1 minute, and let it cool before using. Boiled or purchased bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing
teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.
E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause short-term effects, such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or
other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems. The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking
water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. People at increased risk should seek advice about drinking water from their health care provider.
What happened? What is the suspected or known source of contamination?
Initial investigation has revealed no obvious source for the contamination, which has been confirmed in the reservoirs. A full investigation will be done when the reservoirs are emptied and can be inspected from the inside
The following is being done to correct the problem:
The system was chlorinated on October 13′h to a level that should be adequate to kill any contamination in the system. The system will be flushed with chlorinated water on October 14th and one reservoir drained for cleaning. This will be done as soon as possible but by the end of Monday, at the latest. At that time the clean reservoir will be put on line and the second reservoir cleaned.
Regulations require that we must let all chlorine dissipate from the system before taking samples to confirm that the contamination has been eliminated. Wednesday 19th will be the soonest that this can be done. A second set of required samples can be collected on Thursday and we are hopeful to be able to lift the boil water notice by Friday, October 21st -this is a best case scenario.
We have consulted with the Washington State Department of Health about this incident. We will notify you when you no longer need to boil the water. We anticipate resolving the problem by October 21, 2011.
For more information, please contact King Water Company at (360) 678-5336 or at PO Box 2243, Oak Harbor, WA 98277.
Please share this notice with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distribution copies by hand or mail.
This notice is sent to you by Thunder Ridge Water System on 10/14/2011.
