Printable Notice: Public Notice Evergreen Coliform Bacteria

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR DRINKING WATER

Tests Show Coliform Bacteria in Evergreen School Water

Our water system recently violated a drinking water standard.  Although this is not an emergency, as our customers, you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct this situation.

We routinely monitor for the presence of drinking water contaminants.  We took four samples for Coliform bacteria during September. Three of those samples showed the presence of coliform bacteria.

What should I do?

  • You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions. However, if you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor.
  • People with severely compromised immune systems, infants, and some elderly may be at increased risk. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.  General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 (800) 426-4791 or the Department of Human Services Drinking Water Program at (971) 673-0405.

What does this mean?

This is not an emergency. If it had been you would have been notified immediately.  Total Coliform bacteria are generally not harmful themselves. Coliforms are bacteria which are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present. Coliforms were found in more samples than allowed and this was a warning of potential problems.

Usually, Coliforms are a sign that there could be a problem with the treatment of distribution system (pipes). Whenever we detect coliform bacteria in any sample, we do follow-up testing to see if other bacteria of greater concern, such as fecal coliform or E.coli, are present. We did not find any of these bacteria in our subsequent testing. If we had, we would have notified you immediately.  However, we are still finding coliforms in the drinking water.

What happened?  What is being done?

We are chlorinating and flushing the water system. We are increasing sampling of coliform bacteria. We will inform you when our sampling shows that no bacteria are present. We anticipate resolving the problem as quickly as possible.

For more information, please contact Director of Maintenance and Facilities, Lorin Stanley at 503-873-5303 x1126 or 612 Schlador Street, Silverton, OR  97381.

Please share this information 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 distributing copies by hand or mail.

This notice is being sent to you by Silver Falls School District. State Water System ID#: 93753, Evergreen School.

Date distributed: 9/19/17