E. coli threat in Corpus

[District303aPastPlayer]

don't drink the water...

The city of Corpus Christi has just issued a "water boil notification." Don't drink or cook with water without boiling it first.

The City is concerned that e-coli or fecal matter may have contaminated the water. For more information tune in to 1440 KEYS, the Eric von Wade show or catch Action 10 News at 5,6, at 10pm Today.

[District303aPastPlayer]

-Boil water or use bottled water that you plan to drink, prepare food, brush your teeth, wash dishes, or bath young children with.

-Turn your ice-maker off and dump the ice. Water filters will NOT get rid of
e-coli.

HEB Plus is out of bottled water as well as Sam's Club. HEB is asking you to return or not use "READY ICE" with a UPC code which has the last five numbers ending in 00110.

Starbucks is not selling coffe today and Chillies and On the Border have closed for today.

[luvhoops34]

I was just going to head up to HEB @ Leopard and Violet to pick up some water:( Me and everybody else in CC.

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by luvhoops34
I was just going to head up to HEB @ Leopard and Violet to pick up some water:( Me and everybody else in CC.

word of advice... head to odem or sinton...

[bobcat1]

I hope all my family that lives there knows about it. :eek:

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by bobcat1
I hope all my family that lives there knows about it. :eek:

call them now...

can we get this stickied and the title changed to something like
"E Coli Threat in Corpus"

[Gsquared]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
don't drink the water...

The city of Corpus Christi has just issued a "water boil notification." Don't drink or cook with water without boiling it first.

The City is concerned that e-coli or fecal matter may have contaminated the water. For more information tune in to 1440 KEYS, the Eric von Wade show or catch Action 10 News at 5,6, at 10pm Today.
Dang, yall better go find out who crapped in the water :eek:

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by Gsquared
Dang, yall better go find out who crapped in the water :eek:

hell, the beach water is all messed up too... it has crap in it... literally...

[Gsquared]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
hell, the beach water is all messed up too... it has crap in it... literally... dang sea chickens. Dont worry, Gobbla and I are gonna eradicate them soon

[luvhoops34]

I just got back from HEB @ violet and Leopard. Plenty of cases of bottled water.
Good ol' HEB.:D

[olddawggreen]

Originally posted by District303aPastPlayer
don't drink the water...

The city of Corpus Christi has just issued a "water boil notification." Don't drink or cook with water without boiling it first.

The City is concerned that e-coli or fecal matter may have contaminated the water. For more information tune in to 1440 KEYS, the Eric von Wade show or catch Action 10 News at 5,6, at 10pm Today.

Oh my lord, what if I already drank it? Now that I think about it, the water did seem kind of thick:eek: :eek: But I just kind of thought that it was normal for this time of year:doh:

[LH Panther Mom]

Has the GP/Cal thread already started and has gotten deep enough to pollute the water? :eek: :evillol: :evillol: :evillol:





(Sorry.... :p )

[Maroon87]

Originally posted by LH Panther Mom
Has the GP/Cal thread already started and has gotten deep enough to pollute the water? :eek: :evillol: :evillol: :evillol:





(Sorry.... :p )

You mean the G-P/Cal/Flour Bluff thread? Shoot...you'd think it was mid-October on the 4A board...:evilgrin:

[piratebg]

I must have taken at least 100 calls yesterday of people thinking the water in Portland was contaminated as well. It got to the point that I just wanted to say the water was contaminated by Calallen Jihadists or something. :D

[District303aPastPlayer]

Originally posted by piratebg
I must have taken at least 100 calls yesterday of people thinking the water in Portland was contaminated as well. It got to the point that I just wanted to say the water was contaminated by Calallen Jihadists or something. :D

you know the people in portland try so hard to be Corpus, but yet, when lumped together by a blanket statement, seem to run away (from what i have seen)

[crzyjournalist03]

any update as to what's going on today?

[District303aPastPlayer]

Filth in water puzzles city
Boil-water mandate covers all residents

By Beth Wilson (Contact)
Originally published 03:38 a.m., August 15, 2007
Updated 03:38 a.m., August 15, 2007

Puzzled city officials are retesting and reviewing reports of fecal bacteria found in drinking water samples and trying to isolate the cause.

The city remained under a boil-water notice late Tuesday despite latest reports indicating no bacteria in retests of contaminated water samples. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality will determine when the city can lift the boil-water notice after continued testing indicates the city's water system is safe, said Eduardo Garaña, the city's water superintendent.

Bacteria was detected in six samples at five sites last week and repeat testing continued to show bacteria present in three sites, Garaña said. All sites had clear test results late Tuesday.

City officials said they waited to issue the advisory to ensure that the bacteria wasn't an isolated incident.

Water officials received the first report of bacteria in a water sample July 31, Assistant City Manager Ron Massey said, and continued testing to determine if there was a widespread problem. Tests during the past week confirmed it required citywide notification.

Top city officials were briefed on the bacteria-tainted samples about 5 p.m. Monday. But residents were buying bottled water and spreading the word well before the city issued a boil-water alert about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.

After talking with the state, local officials decided late Monday to postpone any citywide announcements until after a previously scheduled conference call with water engineers and state officials set for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"We had a pretty serious question about whether there even is a serious issue at all," City Manager Skip Noe said Tuesday. "Any delay we did from late yesterday to this morning was really an effort to take time to understand that we really had a problem. Our understanding was it was well within the requirements to take that time, so we thought it would be time well spent."

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality informed the city Monday that a boil-water notice must be issued within 24 hours. Massey said it's unclear when they will lift it.

"We're trying to show them that what we saw with these positives was an anomaly in the system," he said. "The rest of the system, which is much greater than these couple, little isolated areas, is free of bacteria and has more than adequate levels of disinfectant to protect customers from bacteria."

Hiram Cox who lives near the sample site on Lafitte Drive which showed bacteria, was upset the city didn't notify residents Thursday, when first test result indicated E. coli at that site.

"If they knew about it since then, that it tested that way, that's five days everybody out here's been drinking water that the city knew tested positive for E. coli," he said.

Massey said officials needed to be able to answer any questions about the situation before releasing an alert.

"When we tell the public, we need to be as accurate as we can and do it in a timely manner and be prepared to help them to respond," he said.

The city decided to get the word out by posting the notice on its Web site and alerting local media. Noe said the city's recorded message notification system could not have handled the capacity to alert all city residents quickly.

This is the second boil-water notice in 25 days. Parts of the city were under a boil-water notice between July 20 and 26 after low levels of disinfectant were detected in the drinking water system. No elevated levels of bacteria were found then. City officials said low water usage and high temperatures made the disinfectant less effective. To address that, the city switched Aug. 6 from a chlorine/ammonia disinfectant to a straight chlorine disinfectant, and added 17 water testing sites.

Four of six samples that tested positive for total coliform and E. coli remained positive after a second testing, reported Monday night, and those results led to the boil-water alert.

Latest testing results Garaña received about 5 p.m. Tuesday showed no presence of bacteria at those sites.

Garaña said he doesn't know what caused the bacteria to appear in the samples because higher than required levels of chlorine disinfectant designed to kill any harmful bacteria are evident throughout the water system.

"It doesn't make logical sense," he said.

Neither a nearby water-line break nor improper line connections that could allow bacteria to enter the system have been discovered. Another possible cause is the switch to straight chlorine disinfectant from a chlorine/ammonia blend. Water was flushed out of the system with high velocity and may have changed the direction of the flow in the pipes, causing a back flow.

Contamination of samples after collection or at the lab also could happen, Garaña said.

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality officials said it's unclear what caused the bacteria levels, but it may be related to increased flushing.

"The unusually high flushing of water from the system could have destabilized some pipe connection or valve not heavily used normally and contributed to the bacteria back-flushing into the system," said Alicia Diehl, team leader of the state agency's drinking water quality team.

Diehl said boil alerts can be isolated to certain areas of town, but the reports of fecal bacteria led state officials to call for a citywide notice.

"It's strictly by the book," she said.

The city tests water at outdoor faucets, including homes, at eight sites a day, cycling through 15 routes for a total of about 180 samples a month.

[District303aPastPlayer]

(part 2 of article)

Time Line

July 20

City water officials become aware of lower levels of chlorine in city water, issue a boil-water notice for entire city.

July 21

City revises boil-water notice to include only residents east of Everhart Road and north of SPID, including Flour Bluff, Padre Island and Mustang Island.

July 26

Boil advisory lifted in all areas.

Aug. 6

Water officials switch to the chlorine disinfectant.

Monday

City reports higher bacteria levels in undisclosed areas of the city.

Tuesday

Four samples show traces of bacteria, prompting officials to issue a boil-water notice for the city.

Source: Caller-Times archives, city of Corpus Christi Web site

Compiled by Allison Brown, archive coordinator

Reporter Mike Baird contributed to this report. Contact Beth Wilson at 886-3748 or wilsonb@caller.com

[marlin fan]

i had like two people call in today to my job lol wanted to ask them about it!

[KingRob]

hey amigos, when in Corpus, whatever you do, don't drink the water! :D :p

[District303aPastPlayer]

Water ban lifted.

[footballgal]

:eek: I was there this past weekend? When did this start????

[luvhoops34]

City water boil lifted except for Water Pressure Zone 2

From staff reports
Originally published 12:09 p.m., August 16, 2007
Updated 12:09 p.m., August 16, 2007
Map of area under water boil alert
City of Corpus Christi
Map of area under water boil alert

CORPUS CHRISTI — The City of Corpus Christi has received notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality this morning that the boil water advisory can be lifted for all areas with the exception of Water Pressure Zone 2.

Water Pressure Zone 2 can be detailed in a map to be posted on the city website at www.cctexas.com within the hour. Zone 2 includes areas east of Everhart bordered by the Oso but also includes several neighborhoods along Weber and Doddridge. Residents and businesses are urged to view a map of Water Pressure Zone 2 in order to determine if their area is still included in the water boil.

http://www.caller.com/news/2007/aug/16/city-water-boil-lifted-except-water-pressure-zone-/