An Island weekend without clean water

Published 9:53 am Tuesday, September 30, 2014

After a water contamination scare over the weekend, the City of Mercer Island is examining its emergency response management while continuing to monitor its water system per normal operating procedure.

E. coli bacteria was first discovered in Mercer Island’s water supply on Friday, Sept. 26, prompting an overnight retest per Washington state guidelines. Results came back positive the next morning, and a ‘boil water advisory’ was issued on Saturday at 3 p.m.

The city lifted the notice Monday morning when later test results were found to be clear, though not before announcing the closure of the Island’s public schools and 62 food establishments for sanitation and inspection. Businesses were closed Saturday and Sunday, and the Mercer Island Farmers Market was canceled on Sunday.

“We are discussing all of our outreach efforts and looking for ways to improve them, “ said communications manager Ross Freeman.  “We take emergency communications very seriously on the Island, and will implement lessons learned from this incident. “

Freeman said city officials undertook a public outreach effort to inform residents of the situation by posting updates on the city website, putting notices on the doors of eateries and using social media.

The city also attempted to use a reverse 911 system, but it did not work correctly.

“We understand a number of residents did not receive a reverse 911 call as we expected, “ said emergency manager Jennifer Franklin.  “We have already started looking into this issue and are working with the service provider to determine how to better inform the public in any future events using a telephone-based system. “

No illnesses were linked to Mercer Island water as of the Reporter’s deadline, though Freeman said it takes three to five days to confirm cases of E. coli.

Public health inspectors worked with restaurants to help them reopen on Monday morning, and students were to be back in school on Tuesday.

“We are gratified to bring this potentially serious incident to an end, and we thank all residents for their sacrifices and food-service establishments for their willingness to cooperate for the health of the community,” City Manager Noel Treat said in a press release Monday.

Mayor Bruce Bassett said that he thought residents were generally level-headed about the incident, and wanted to thank businesses for their cooperation despite the adverse financial impact. Treat said that he didn’t know when the city would have an assessment of the economic effects of the incident.

It was the first time E. coli had been discovered in Island water. The cause of the contamination is still unknown. Treat said that the city’s system was recently inspected and no abnormalities were found.

When the water was deemed unsafe to drink, cases of water started flying off grocery store shelves. Amazon Fresh contacted city officials wanting to donate 21 pallets, or 1,100 cases, to Mercer Island residents.

The city’s water provider, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) routinely tests over 800 samples for bacteria across their service area each month, including 18 samples collected each month in the Mercer Island distribution system.

E. coli was originally detected in several locations spread across the Island. Samples are taken from special collection stations used only for that purpose, Freeman said.

The testing is done at the SPU lab, Freeman said.

To address the situation, city utility crews inspected system facilities, flushing water mains in potential problem areas and ensuring chlorine levels were adequate.

After the boil water notice was lifted, residents were advised to flush their pipes at home for five minutes by running the cold water tap in all faucets and to dispose of all ice from icemakers and wash and sanitize ice trays.

Though E. coli wasn’t detected in tests done on Saturday or Sunday, city officials said that one sample tested positive for Total Coliform.

“An occasional reading for Total Coliform is not uncommon, and does not in itself indicate any health hazard. Most coliform bacteria are a normal part of the environment and they do not cause illness,” a city press release said.

Update: The latest round of tests from water samples collected Monday revealed no concerns. Every sample was clear of E. coli and Total Coliform.  Precautionary testing will continue. All food service establishments were given permission to re-open by the Public Health Dept. as of Monday afternoon. The MI School District has reopened Tuesday after spending Monday cleaning and flushing. No confirmed E. Coli cases have been reported to Public Health – Seattle & King County.

Stay informed

The City of Mercer Island homepage:

• www.mercergov.org

Main City Facebook page:

• www.facebook.com/CityofMercerIsland

Emergency Preparedness & Police Facebook page:

• www.facebook.com/MercerIslandEmergencyPreparedness

Emergency Preparedness Twitter site:

• @MI_EmergPrep

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The Mercer Island Reporter

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• Twitter: @MIReporter