Customers are Urged to Boil Water Prior to Drinking
(Santa Fe, N.M.) –The New Mexico Environment Department’s Drinking Water Bureau issued a “boil water advisory” for the Roosevelt County WUA Water System on August 8, 2013.
The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) issued the advisory after bacteriological contamination (E. coli) was detected in a routine monitoring sample. Total coliform was detected in one of the required repeat drinking water samples from the system collected on August 7, 2013. NMED requires the Roosevelt County WUA Water System to notify water system consumers of this finding. Roosevelt County WUA Water System serves approximately 3,780 residents and is located approximately one mile south of Portales, NM in Roosevelt County.
This advisory only applies to the drinking water from the Roosevelt County WUA Water System, and does not extend to any other surrounding water systems.
Consumers of the Roosevelt County WUA Water System are advised to boil the water for five minutes 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 dangerous 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 NMED Drinking Water Bureau will provide technical assistance to the water system and Roosevelt County WUA Water System will continue to test the water until no further threat of contamination remains.
For more information, call Morgan Nelson, NMED Communications Office at (505) 827-2176 at or Brandi Garcia, Drinking Water Bureau Compliance Officer at (575) 391-0464.