UPDATE–Lebec, CA (Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 at 2:08 p.m.)—The “boil water” order for Krista Mutual Water Company has been lifted. According to the State Water Resource Control Board, it is now safe to drink the water from Krista’s system. See the notice at right.

UPDATE–Lebec, CA (Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 at 8:25 p.m.)—A notice was not received today, as anticipated, to lift the boil water order within Krista Mutual Water Company’s service area. Water customers are required to continue boiling water until the boil water order has been lifted.

UPDATE–Lebec, CA (Monday, Jan. 25, 2016 at 11:45 a.m.)—Krista Mutual Water Company expects to receive notice of a lifting of the Boil Water notice by Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 26, according to office manager Pam Jarecki.

UPDATE–Lebec, CA (Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 at 1:16 p.m.)—To balance the record (see below), we just talked with Christina  Coates of Los Padres Estates who says she was notified late Friday afternoon, after 6:30 p.m.: “It was late afternoon yesterday. My house is fenced in, so people can’t come to my door. My neighbor called me immediately and we went out and found a notice on the gate.”

Coates says she takes care of several seniors in the area. “‘I telephoned them to let them know,” she said. She added that they are all able to boil their water to be safe.

UPDATE–Lebec, CA (Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 at 11:43 a.m.)—Krista’s secretary, Pam Jarecki, said the water company received a call from state health officials at about 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 22 about the Thursday, Jan. 21 water sample tests, which showed signs of e. coli bacteria which can cause illness for people with suppressed immune systems. Jarecki said state officials emailed the “boil water” notice at about 6 p.m. She said Krista has been posting notices throughout its water service area. But customers in the area who spoke with The Mountain Enterprise say they have not seen any notice.

Some residents observe that it was windy last night and that some notices were discovered posted in places not visible to those within the home who are likely to be using the water. Questions about the effectiveness of Krista’s notification system have been raised.

UPDATE–Lebec, CA (Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 at 11:40 a.m.)—Los Padres Estates resident Ann Marie Holland is concerned. She says the notices have been put in places people will not find them for hours, if ever:  “We found this under the wheel of our car at 1:30 a.m Saturday. I was upset because they took so long to notify us of the situation.”

Holland said she had taken some medications with a glass of water and gone to bed when her husband woke her to show her the notice.

“There are elderly people here with illnesses that this could kill. They could have done so many things to get the word out faster. Why don’t they have a telephone calling system?” she asked.

Meanwhile, many other neighbors report they have not found a notice at all. Several had already used the water without knowing there is evidence of contamination that could have an impact on health.

UPDATE–Lebec, CA (Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 at 10:30 a.m.) Residents of Los Padres Estates must boil their water before drinking it or using it to brush their teeth. Signs of fecal contamination appeared in a sample from a test on January 21, according to a notice found by some neighbors today. Others we have contacted have not found such a notice. We will report more as we have more details.

This is part of the January 22, 2016 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.