From our sister site The Normandy Park Blog:
After a full week, customers of King County Water District #54 in parts of Des Moines and Normandy Park no longer need to boil their tap water, the district announced on Saturday, June 24, 2023.
The district said that test samples show the water now meets safe drinking water standards including an absence of E. coli bacteria.
This is good news for residents of the district, as well as businesses like restaurants and bars that had to close because of the advisory.
As we previously reported, the water district issued the boil water advisory on Saturday, June 17, 2023 after E. coli bacteria were detected in routine water quality monitoring samples. Department of Health guidelines state customers must be notified of an advisory within 24 hours.
Water District boundaries range from south of S. 213th Street, north of S. 230th Street and west of 13th Ave South.
Here’s more from the district:
“State and local health departments worked with Water District #54 through this process. The state Office of Drinking Water inspected the water system with district staff on both June 20th and June 22nd and found no obvious source of contamination. The district staff completed inspections, water quality sampling, disinfection, and flushing to resolve the contamination problem.
“No confirmed cases of illness linked to the water system have been identified.
“If you have shut off or not used fixtures, water fountains, ice machines, soda machines, and/or other equipment over the past several days, flush the fixture or equipment until there is a change in water temperature before putting it back in service.
“The District would like to thank Highline Water District staff, and the many community member volunteers that helped respond to this emergency.
“King County Water District #54 encourages customers with questions to call (206) 878-7210.”
My problem with this entire boil water situation is that I had NO idea it existed. I didn’t see anything about it in the Seattle Times or on TV. Admittedly, I don’t watch local news on TV or even pay close attention to the B-Town Blog. If my Mom in Puyallup hadn’t called me on Tuesday June 20th (3 days after the boil water announcement), I wouldn’t have known about this dangerous situation.
At a minimum, Water District #54 should have contacted ALL of their customers, by phone, text, or email. It’s outrageous they didn’t or couldn’t.