950 Users are urged to Boil Water Prior to Drinking

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Environment Department’s (NMED) Drinking Water Bureau (DWB) is confirming that a “precautionary boil water advisory” is required for the San Antonio Mutual Domestic Consumer Water Association (MDWCA) located in Socorro County.

San Antonio MDWCA is required to issue the advisory on July 17, 2018 after severe flooding caused a major water line break and water system pressure at the San Antonio MDWCA. As a result of the water line break and loss of pressure, flood watersmay have entered the distribution system. New Mexico Drinking Water Regulations require San Antonio MDWCA to notify their water system consumers of this finding as soon as practical but no later than 24 hours after the precautionary boil advisory has been issued.

San Antonio MDWCA is a community public water system that serves approximately 950 users. This advisory applies to the drinking water from the San Antonio MDWCA, and does not extend to any other surrounding water systems.

San Antonio MDWCA users are advised to boil the water for one minute (3 minutes if above 6,500 feet in elevation) before drinking, cooking, washing fruits and vegetables, feeding a baby, brushing teeth, preparing drinks, making ice, and providing drinking water for pets.

The loss of pressure in the water system may have allowed contaminatedwater, sewage, animal wastes, or disease-causing organisms into the drinking water system. Most strains of E. coli are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals. 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 NMED Drinking Water Bureau will provide compliance oversight and offer technical assistance to the water system and will require the San Antonio MDWCA to continue to test the water until no further threat of contamination remains.

For more facts about New Mexico’s Boil Water Advisories in English and Spanish please visit: ht tps://www.env.nm.gov/drinking _water/boil-water- advisories/ and for more information on today’s announcement please call NMED’s Drinking Water Bureau Compliance Supervisor, Brandi Garcia at 575-323-4298.

NMED does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age or sex in the administration of its programs or activities, as required by applicable laws and regulations. NMED is responsible for coordination of compliance efforts and receipt of inquiries concerning non-discrimination requirements implemented by 40 C.F.R. Part 7, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 13 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. If you have any questions about any of NMED’s non-discrimination programs, policies or procedures, send email to: nd.coordinator@state.nm.us