Tigard residents told to boil water after positive E. coli test
UPDATE: Tigard Police said the boil water advisory was lifted Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. and tap water was safe to drink and use as normal.
TIGARD, Ore. – Residents in much of Tigard, plus Durham, King City and Bull Mountain were told to boil their water on Wednesday after tests for E. coli came up positive.
Tigard police say customers in the Tigard Water Service Area need to boil all of their water to kill bacteria that could be present.
Tap water that will be used for drinking, food prep, brushing teeth, washing dishes or making ice should be heated to a full boil for at least one minute. That will kill the bacteria found during testing, police said.
Any ice or beverages made with water after Sunday, November 18 should be thrown out.
Two routine water samples collected Monday first turned up the possible contamination. Follow-up samples taken on Tuesday also tested positive for E. coli and coliform, city officials said.
The tests show that the water may be contaminated with human or animal waste.
"It's just bad timing, especially when you have family," said Angela Kingery. "You don't want to be skirting around it."
While the tests showed E. coli was present, the specific strain isn’t clear. City officials said the strains associated with serious illness are rarely found in water supplies.
"We have a toddler and a baby so we're just going to make sure that they have safe water to drink, and we have a bottle washing station," said Kingery.
It’s not clear how the bacteria got in the water.
Crews began flushing the water system on Wednesday morning. Once it’s flushed, the water will be tested again, police said.
The city plans to get those results on Thursday morning. They will notify customers when it’s safe to stop boiling water.
"We're worried about the showering, we are worried about bathing the toddlers, so that's the part I'm worried about," Kingery said.
Tualatin Valley Water District customers, including the cities of Tualatin and Bridgeport, are not part of the boil water notice.
City of Tigard website
I am very thankful the boil issue has been lifted. I wasn't looking forward to making Thanksgiving dinner without a running faucet. It's amazing what we take for granted when we don't have access to it.
The boil water warning has been lifted this morning...
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http://www.tigard-or.gov/city_hall/departments/water/default.asp
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Horrible. Especially for all those fragile folks such as in nursing homes and the elderly who may not even watch the news or use computers.
That's what you get when you pump water out of the Willamette River...
 @Billy Batts Tigard's water comes from Portland and the Clackamas river, and wells during late summer. Soon it will be all Clackamas river water, with Lake Oswego.
This is real, i was brutally ill on Sunday night/Monday morning. Couldn't figure out why, thought it was food poisoning, then I saw this. Makes a lot of sense.
@WilliamSmith same thing as severe food poisoning. I had this crap once, and salmonella once when I lived in Redding. I and several others got sick from some chicken at a sports bar called The Shack.
 @WilliamSmith Crap, my Burmese cat loves to play in the sink while the water is running!!!
 @boned Well, I have 2 dogs and a cat, all who drink tap water. Haven't noticed anything odd with them yet. My wife didn't get sick yet either. So, who knows how it works or how much it is effecting the water, i just know that i was taken out of commission since basically Sunday (only starting to feel halfway functional today).
 @WilliamSmith  @boned Feel better soon! Document this with your health care provider as well.
They should have sent notices out the day it was detected, even at that, it looks like they need to add some UV light and such to the treatment..or can they in that large of a system? I wonder what future water treatment plants will look like?
It would be nice to get these notifications somehow without having to turn on the TV or computer. I had already been drinking the water today before happening to turn on my computer! I am going to be pissed if I get sick! I don't have the best immune system, after fighting ovarian cancer for 6 years.
 @pearose55 It would be pretty epic if the county created an emergency notification system where you could opt in with your email and/or cell number so you could get emails and text messages about such things. Takes a lot of gov't spending though, so there's that...
 @pearose55 God love you - at least you have survived...Â
It really would have been nice to have had this information on Tues.! They could and should have notified everyone in the affected area as soon as the Tues. test confirmed a e. coli and fecal coliform too! People don't need that kind of delay when you've got loved ones with health issues drinking it. That stuff can, and does, kill. I don't understand the non-notification by the water bureau. They have our phone numbers! I'm just glad that I saw it on this site (thanks KATU, wouldn't have heard my water was poisoned without checking your site). Freakin' unbelievable.
Sounds just nummy! E coli-flavored water!Well, at least it's not FLUORIDE!! ;-)
@Mikey ......yeah, great comparison, geesh !
 @Mikey Yet...
gee, i wonder if all the rain flushed some crud into the water source
 @Phuzz The county just strapped down a sewage man-hole cover with heavy bars that got blown-off in my hood!! Poop & diapers blowing four feet in the air - a sight to behold, indeed...
Water Terrorism just in time for a big Holiday.
 @Obongo Geddon How convenient don't you think??
It seems to me that fruit salads, desserts and other foods that do not get cooked should maybe be thrown out if they were prepared in the affected area in advance of Thanksgiving and since Nov 18th.
This could be a serious problem for folks having Thanksgiving Dinner in the affected area or at least a major inconvenience.
dont poop where you drink
We all have e. coli bacteria in our guts, just at different levels!
 @portlandborn83 This is true. We have certain strains in our guts. Cattle serotypes such as O157:H7 come from cattle and are responsible for food poisoning. I don't know what type these guys found in the water, but it's certainly not the good kind we all have! (The good stuff actually gives us vitamin k, go figure.) Probably introduced from all the run off and high water levels...