MAY 11 FRIDAY, 12:30 p.m. UPDATE: State Gives ‘All Clear’–Safe Water Advisory Issued in Lake of the Woods

On Friday, May 11 the Lake of the Woods Mutual Water Company issued a "Safe Water Advisory" to its customers. There is no further need to boil water. The California Department of Health Services issued a statement that said, in part: "Based on follow-up corrective actions taken by the Lake of the Woods Mutual Water Company and results of bacteriological quality samples collected on May 9 and 10, from the storage tanks and representative locatons in the distribution system, the State Department of Health Services has determined that the water supplied by the Lake of the Woods Mutual Water Company is considered safe to drink. Therefore, there is no further need to boil water. No other precautions are necessary on your part."

Questions regarding the notice or any aspect of Lake of the Woods Mutual Company’s recent developments can be directed to LOWMWC Office Manager Diane Gustafson or LOWMWC President Jason Bloom at 661-245-1448 and to the California Department of Health Services, Southern California Branch, Drinking Water Field Operations at 661-335-7315.

Read on below for further information about how this story developed.

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MAY 10 THURSDAY, 11:00 a.m. UPDATE:
BOIL-WATER ORDER EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN EFFECT AT LEAST UNTIL FRIDAY, MAY 11
SOURCE OF CONTAMINATION—A FIELD MOUSE— FOUND IN SOUTH TANK

Frazier Park, CA — Gary Mell, consultant to the Lake of the Woods Mutual Water Company, confirmed today that the Lake of the Woods Mutual Water Company’s South Tank (referred to as Tank #1 in the California Department of Health Services’ report below) was drained Tuesday. A field mouse was found to be the source of the positive "total choliform" test May 2 and replicated May 3.

"A vent on the top of the tank had been welded, examination showed that the weld itself created a half-inch gap on the top," Mell explained, "It is a ‘bolted tank, so the mouse could climb up the bolts like a ladder, found his way through the space at the top, and fell in."

Workers had decided not to wait for diving specialists to come next week to examine the full tank. "We had a way to continue providing water to everybody without the South Tank, so we decided to drain it, to get this done sooner," Mell said. Meanwhile, LOWMWC is continuing its program of chlorintating the water and disinfecting the system.

The CDHS estimate that the ‘boil water’ order will be in place until Friday has not been changed.

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MAY 9 WEDNESDAY, 3:00 p.m. ARTICLE:

Boil Order In Place At Least Through Friday, State Says

By Gary Meyer and Patric Hedlund

Frazier Park, CA — An update from the California Department of Health Services was provided to The Mountain Enterprise Tuesday, May 8 at 3:55 p.m. Patti Roberts, CDHS spokesperson wrote:

One out of the three routine samples collected on May 2, 2007 from the [Lake of the Woods Mutual Water Company] distribution system tested positive for E.coli bacteria. Upon receipt of notification on May 3, from LOWMWC’s sampler, the California Department of Health Services’ prepared a "boil water order" and directed the water company to issue the boil water order.

As part of the repeat and investigation sampling, three samples taken on Thursday, May 3 (collected from Tank #1 and a Paige Road residence) tested positive for E. coli bacteria. The remaining nine samples (three wells, two other tanks towards the north part of the system, and four distribution system) collected on May 3 tested negative for total coliform as well as E.coli. After CDHS notified the Water Company on Saturday, May 5, they started their emergency disinfection treatment and flushing in the distribution system.

Based on CDHS’ recent conversation with the water company’s certified distribution operator, they inspected the system facilities on Saturday, May 5 again to investigate the cause of contamination. The E. coli contamination problem appears to be in Tank #1. The water company is providing emergency disinfection treatment and also inspecting, cleaning, and disinfecting Tank #1. Tank #1 is currently isolated from the distribution system.

Two investigation samples collected on Monday, May 7 from Tank #1 and the Paige Road Residence tested negative for total coliform bacteria.

There needs to be two rounds of total coliform negative samples before canceling the boil water order. After cleaning and disinfecting Tank #1, the Water Company plans to collect a first round of samples on Wednesday, May 9 and the second round on Thursday May 10. At the earliest, CDHS will be in a position to cancel the boil water order on Friday, May 11 if all samples from the May 9 and May 10 sampling are total negative for total coliform bacteria.

Residents can check www.MountainEnterprise.com for updates on this situation.

Some residents questioned the water company’s procedure for notifying the community about the ‘boil water’ alert. Kim Hall said she had not received any notice from LOWMWC as late as Tuesday, May 7, but Bob Stowell and the LOWMWC Board said a comprehensive effort had been made to notify all residents. According to state guidelines, there is no danger in showering or washing clothes in the water. Boiled water should be used for washing dishes, brushing teeth and drinking.

A rupture in a septic system pipe to the property on Paige Road is suspected to have possibly injected E. coli contaminant into the Tank #1 line, according to LOWMWC consultant Gary Mell. Steve White of Skoo’kum Water Monitoring Inc. Initially said the E. coli strain would be "typed," but sources at the state said that was not necessary, once the flushing and disinfecting of the system was begun and Tank #1 was isolated from the system.

What is E. Coli and How is This Different From the Kind Making Kids Sick in Bakersfield?

Bakersfield television news is filled with stories this week about a group of small children who have tested positive for E. coli O157:H7, a strain of the bacteria which causes internal bleeding, and can be dangerous for people with compromised immune systems, small children and elders.

This is not related to the situation identified in the Lake of the Woods Mutual Water Company system.

There are thousands of varieties of E. coli bacteria, and most of them are not harmful to people or our pets. We have billions of "friendly" E. coli living within us.

In fact, the presence of E. coli and other kinds of bacteria within our intestines is necessary for us to develop and operate properly, and for us to remain healthy. E. coli, along with other species of bacteria, provide us with many necessary vitamins for example. These bacteria make the K and B-complex vitamins within our digestive systems for instance.

Matt Constantine of the Kern County Environmental Health Department said in an interview on Tuesday, May 7 that testing for generic E. coli is done routinely by water systems, as an "indicator" organism, to alert water companies whether some form of bacteria may have entered the distribution system, if such a test is positive, that does not mean that people will get sick from the organism that is found, but that the system should be checked and disinfected, which is what is taking place now in Lake of the Woods.

According to B. A. Jinadu, M.D., M.P.H., Kern County Health Officer, as a precaution you want to watch for sudden onset of diarrhea, or any bloody stools. But there is nothing of that kind associated with the LOWMWC event.

The Tank #1 where the positive sample was taken has been isolated, flushed and disinfected and chlorinators that had already been installed by LOWMWC as a precaution are busy disinfecting the rest of the distribution system.

This is part of the May 11, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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