(SantaFe,N.M.)-The New Mexico Environment Department's Drinking Water Bureau has issued a "Boil Water Advisory" for the El Rancho Mobile Home Park Santa Fe WaterSystem.  Customers are urged to Boil Water Prior to Drinking

NMED issued the advisory on October 18, 2014, after bacteriological contamination (E.coli) was detected in three repeat monitoring samples. Total coliform and E. coli was originally detected in the required monthly drinking water sample from the system collected on October 14, 2014. NMED requires the El Rancho Mobile Home Park Santa Fe to notify water system consumers of this finding. El Rancho Mobile Home Park Santa Fe is a Community water system that serves approximately 40 people and is located in El Rancho, NM in Santa Fe County.

This advisory only applies to the drinking water from the El Rancho Mobile Home Park in Santa Fe, and does not extend to any other surrounding water systems.

Consumers of the El Rancho Mobile Home Park in Santa Fe are advised to boil the water for five minute before drinking, cooking, dishwashing and bathing. The presence of E.coli in water indicates that the water may have been in contact with sewage or animal wastes, and could contain disease-causing organisms. Most strains of E.coli are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals. However, a positive test for E.coli in the drinking water supply may indicate the presence of strains of E.coli or other disease-causing organisms. These types of organisms may cause severe gastrointestinal illness and, in rare cases, death. Children, the elderly and immuno-compromised individuals are at an increased risk for illness. The El Rancho Mobile Home Park Santa Fe has informed the NMED Drinking Water Bureau that they are currently using bottled water for their operations.

The NMED Drinking Water Bureau will provide technical assistance to the water system and El Rancho Mobile Home Park Santa Fe will continue to test the water until no further threat of contamination remains.

For more information, call NMED Communications Director Jim Winchester at (505)831-8800 or Jeff Pompeo, Drinking Water Bureau Compliance Officer, at (505)222-9590.