Portland Water Bureau warns of E coli contamination in tap water - update

Updated: Later yesterday Nov 29, 2009 Portland Water Bureau posted a notice to announce that "water delivered to all taps has tested safe to drink."

"Residents and businesses west of the Willamette River may now drink tap water without boiling it first. This includes customers of the Portland Water Bureau, Palantine Hill, Valley View and Burlington water districts. Additional testing of drinking water has shown no further presence of bacterial contamination. The Portland Water Bureau recommends all residents and businesses flush all taps for 2 minutes or until the water runs cold before consuming for the first time."

By David Liu 

Residents whose tap water is provided by Portland Water Bureau, Burlington, Palatine Hill, and Valley View Water District should not drink tap water without boiling it first because tap water in these districts are potentially contaminated by harmful bacteria, Portland Water Bureau said in a public notice posted on its website on Nov 28.

The notice was issued because E. coli was detected in water samples collected from Reservoir 3 in Washington Park during a routine water testing on Wednesday Nov 25,  E coli contamination in Reservoir was confirmed on Nov 27.

Ingestion of food and water tainted with E coli may result in an illness with symptoms such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms.  At high risk for the illness are infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune system such as cancer and HIV patients.

It remains unknown what specific strain the E coli is.  Most strains of E coli are harmless, but it is unknown whether this strain is E coli O157:H7, which is a pathogen that can cause E coli illness.  Portland Water Bureau did not report any case of E coli infection due to the contamination.

"The affected area includes much of the City of Portland west of the Willamette River and customers who receive water bills from the palatine Hill Water District, Valley View Water District and Burlington Water District," PWB said in a statement.

In response to the finding that water in the Reservoir has been contaminated with E coli, the Portland Water Bureau stopped the water from the reservoir from entering the delivery system  and took the reservoir out of service Saturday morning and is in the process of draining it, the Bureau said.

Tualatin valley water district posted a short notice on its website syaing that TVWD is not affected by the PWB notice.

For more information, visit
http://www.portlandonline.com/water/

 http://www.portlandonline.com/water/index.cfm?c=51580

Those who want to contact the bureau may call Portland Water Bureau at 503-823-7770 or visit the bureau 1120 SW 5th Ave., Portland, OR, 97204.