Mountain Green Residents Warned Of Possible Bacteria Breach In Water

MOUNTAIN GREEN, Utah – Neighbors in Mountain Green are boiling their water to avoid a possible bacteria breach.

Board members with the Cottonwood Mutual Water Company sent out a warning letter to hundreds of homeowners Monday, strongly encouraging them to avoid culinary tap water for teeth brushing, drinking, ice making, dish washing and food preparation.

A water employee did a routine inspection of the water tanks Monday and discovered a breach.

Water board members told KSL 5 TV someone broke into a lower storage water tank, broke the lock, and removed the lid.

Members are not sure when the vandalism occurred.

Due to heavy snowfall, water board employees said it was difficult and unsafe to check the tanks for the past two months.

The water storage tank was last checked Feb. 6.

“Someone broke the lock,” said Doug Dingman, a board member with Cottonwood Mutual Water Company. “We have filed a report with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department. We take the water quality very seriously. We go above and beyond to mitigate problems.”

Although water officials said they were not able to physically check the tank since February, they said they conduct tap water evaluations monthly.

Last month’s check came back clean.

Cottonwood Board Officials are looking into better security measures to surround the storage tanks.

Dingman said no illness, in connection to the water, has been reported.

Dingman and other water board members hung hundreds of warning flyers on doors encouraging neighbors to avoid tap water.

Cottonwood Mutual Water Co. Board Members say they have not been able to check the water tanks since February – due to snowfall. Today, they found a breach in one tank. Neighbors in Mtn Green are advised to drink bottled water. More @KSL5TV at 10. pic.twitter.com/RKNrHR0ChV

— Brittany Tait (@Brittany_KSL) April 2, 2019

“We had a bright green flyer on our door,” Taylor Bearanson said, as he and his brother picked up free bottled water at the water company’s office on Old Highway Road.

“I actually opened the fridge and got water as I was reading the flyer,” Brayden Bearanson said. “I thought this probably isn’t good.”

Board members had passed out nearly 460 bottles of water by Monday evening.

“A sample has been submitted for testing,” Dingman said. “We took immediate action. The water quality lab will monitor the sample for 24 hours. We will have results Tuesday. But then they test for an additional 24 hours to get confirmation results.”

Board members in Mountain Green said they wanted to be extra cautious.

“I came home from work and told my kids they couldn’t drink water from the sink or use ice cubes from the freezer,” resident Shanna Parrill said. “We will be watching this closely, but we aren’t overly worried.”

More information is available at the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 or the Mountain Green Water Office at 801-876-3895.

Residents are encouraged to boil water until Wednesday, if the results come back clean.

If E.coli is found in the system – the boil order will continue longer.

Hundreds of bottled waters are given away as a precaution for those in Mountain Green. Culinary water is being tested for bacteria. Confirmation Results will be ready Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/UBmSMGUf1d

— Brittany Tait (@Brittany_KSL) April 2, 2019