Evergreen water issues boil advisory

The Evergreen Water and Sewer District on Monday, Aug. 29 issued a boil advisory after possible contamination of the drinking water system.

The advisory is precautionary following an equipment failure that caused a loss of pressure in the water distribution system over the weekend, according to a notice issued by the district. Water should be boiled before consuming it until advised otherwise.

“This emergency situation could render the water system susceptible to contamination,” the district said. “Water system personnel are monitoring the situation.”

The district says it will temporarily chlorinate the water and flush the system, which is expected to be accomplished by late Wednesday and bacteria testing of the water is planned Thursday with results expected sometime Friday. The district says tests normally take 24 hours to complete.

Evergreen is working with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

No water restrictions have been issued, but customers are being asked to curtail watering for the next 12 hours.

On Sunday, Aug. 28, the district began receiving customer calls about water supply interruptions and shortly thereafter the district discovered a piping failure at two of its water holding tanks. The flooding that resulted from the pipe leak caused electrical shorts to the controls that monitor the levels of the water tanks, and thus caused the tanks to not be refilled once they were depleted by the normal system demand.

“Because the system was depleted, it is possible that certain parts of our drinking water system may be contaminated with bacteria from backflow,” the district says.

Water should be brought to a rolling boil for a minimum of 3 to 5 minutes, according to the DEQ, before being consumed. When the water cools, refrigerate the water in clean containers.

Buying and using bottled water is a good alternative to boiling water, notes the DEQ.

Symptoms of waterborne illness may include diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches or other symptoms.

People with severely compromised immune systems, infants and some elderly may be at increased risk and should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.

The district provides water to about 3,200 customers. The district has 11 wells and two storage tanks with water demand at about 138,000 gallons per day in the winter and up to 6 million gallons of water per day in the summer.

For more information, contact the Evergreen water district at 406-257-5861 or visit www.evergreenwaterdistrict.com