Boil order ends for the west side
PORTLAND, Ore. - A boil water notice that was issued for the west side of town on Saturday is now over after further testing came back negative for contamination.
The Portland Water Bureau made the announcement Sunday morning that tap water is now safe to drink for those who had been affected by the boil order, which was put in place after E. coli was found in a reservoir at Washington Park.
The city does, however, recommend that folks flush all their taps for two minutes, or until the water runs cold, before taking a drink. That will flush any potentially contaminated water out of the plumbing.
The city is continuing their investigation into how the water became contaminated. In the meantime, the reservoir has been drained so it can be inspected.
When the boil notice was issued on Saturday, some people were alerted within minutes but others didn't know for two or three hours. The water bureau told us that happened because of a glitch in the alert system and that they got the word out as quickly as possible.
As far as folks who might have felt inconvenienced, the city sent out the following statement after lifting the boil notice:
The Portland Water Bureau regrets any inconvenience the boil water notice has caused. While the risk was low, the boil notice was issued to protect the health and safety of drinking water customers. Additionally, drinking water regulations required the boil water notice. The Portland Water Bureau consulted closely with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services and Multnomah County Health officials to ensure that all state, county and federal health standards were maintained.
If you have questions about the alerts or your water, you can call the Portland Water Bureau's Water Line at (503) 823-7770. The city has also opened a City Council work session on water treatment. The session is scheduled for Tuesday, July 24 at 9:30 a.m. at City Council chambers.
This came as Portland Water Bureau customers are seeing a water rate hike this month - an increase of 6.7 percent.
In May, the state of Oregon ordered the City of Portland to cover all its reservoirs by the year 2020, including the reservoir at Washington Park that sparked the boil notice. The alternative is to shut them down in order to comply with federal regulations.
The Portland Water Bureau is in the process of working on getting the city's reservoir in compliance. It's part of the overall improvements to the system that will cost taxpayers an extra 2 percent in bill increases. The entire project is going to cost $300 million.
KATU Reporters Erica Nochlin and Kerry Tomlinson contributed to this report.
Even the coffee machines don't bring the water to boiling temperature.
I drank the water Thursday through Saturday and I feel just fine.It's amazing how a little hype sends the public into a complete panic.At the restaurant that I work at,now we have cases and cases of bottled water that we don't have any use for.The funny thing is,we didn't throw out all of the food that was prepared after Thursday.And the cooks didn't bother boiling the water to clean food items or washing their hands so serving bottle water was just to make the customers feel safe some how.Ridiculous.
What I'm wondering is how long the water was contaminated before they found out. For an extra one cent per month from each customer they could hire someone to watch the reservoirs 24/7 rather than having these panics every three years.
"The Portland Water Bureau . . . the boil notice was issued to protect the health and safety of drinking water customers."
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The 'recipe' is now "flush all their taps for two minutes, or until the water runs cold . ."
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Now the city can tell you exactly what your bill will be; what you owe; what you have to pay.  And what they will do if you don't.
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But when it comes to your health they give you ensure your protection by "or until the water runs cold". ???
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I looked up the definition of cold water - - (water) having a relatively low temperature; having little or no warmth . . "
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Boil is (fairly) explicit (at some pressure), but what the heck is 'low temperature' or 'warmth'? Â
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On a 100 degree day, 70 degrees is a relatively low temperature.  So what do they mean? 70 degrees? 60 degrees? 50? Â
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In the summer I can run the water for hours and never get it below about 50 degrees. To me that is not cold.  Cold is lower than that.  I don't know about you, but to me 'a cold one' means a Bud in the low 40's.Â
Same as last time....Portland's Water Bureau needs to get their act together....as a side note, I was not aware there was a problem until the evening news. There must be a better system to alert people to a danger. If the water had truly been dangerous I'd be a goner as I always drink water from getting out of be until going back to bed for the night.,..
 @KHEB If you lived in one of the affected areas, you WOULD have been notified, by telephone, as I was -- shortly after noon yesterday -- and again this morning, informing me that the ban had been lifted.
@felines99... I hate to disavow you of your false impression...I live near Gabriel Park...I got no phone calls, no warnings, no e-mail or any other form of alert. I was home, in the house all day. No one else in the neighborhood received any warnings either...so where do you live and who, where, when did you get such calls?
 @SerenityWow I have no idea why some of us were notified, and others were not. Sounds like the system needs some fixing.
 @felines99 I was also under the order & did not receive phone calls. Â
 @KHEB I live near Washington Park. I received the calls at the times mentioned in my earlier reply to you.
When government matters.......Portland citizens have Sam Adams, Randy Leonard and the other stooges. Can't wait to see how these incompetent boobs spin this one .
@Rob C From the article: "While the risk was low, the boil notice was issued to protect the health and safety of drinking water customers. Additionally, drinking water regulations required the boil water notice"
Simple question, Â but if you have not run your water for a day or two, Â wouldn't it be PRUDENT to run it for a few minutes and FLUSH it out ? Â Some of us live a long distance from the water reservoir...??Â
The Portland Water Bureau needs to answer a couple of questions:
Why wasn't the public notified immediately of contaminated water? Why weren't West Slope Water District customers notified via robocall and/or email of contaminated water?
 @nice1262 The public WAS notified, by telephone. At least I was.
 @felines99 You called out above you live by Washington Park.  West Slope Water District to my knowledge does not go that far west.  Nice's question is valid.  You may have had a call, but many of us did not. Â
Chill feline. I left both comments the one time I read the story earlier today. I was not reading time stamps to see how your day played out, and this one comment is my only return. No need to yell...
 @SerenityWow I made that comment 7 hours ago. Six hours ago I acknowledged KHEB's claim that he was not notified. And two hours ago, I replied to you that I have no idea why I was notified, yet some were not. The comment you are replying to was made 7 hours ago, before I had been apprised of the fact that some did not receive notices. So I really don't get why you are addressing this AGAIN.
 @nice1262 goo question -- my office in SW received a robocall at  3:34pm...
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