Customers With Water From Contaminated Well Get New Supplier

Waste-tainted water in a small, privately owned water system in Huntington Beach was replaced Friday by municipal water, officials said.

The Huntington Beach Water District began pumping water to customers of the Cary Water Tract after it was discovered that its water may be harmful to drink because it contains bacteria from human or animal waste.

Operation Shut Down

George Johnson, Cary’s president, said the water system shut down operations Friday. Cary officials arranged for municipal water to be pumped to its 83 customers, who live in houses and apartments lining Newman Avenue and Ronald Road off Beach Boulevard.

But Jeffrey Renna, the Huntington Beach water superintendent, said Cary customers must continue to boil their water before drinking it.

“What we’ve given them is clean, but we don’t know what it might hit after that,” Renna said. “Contaminated water is probably still in their pipes.”

Cary Friday stopped pumping water to its customers, who cooperatively own the water system, so that it will be easier to disinfect the well that has been supplying contaminated water. The well, which is the sole source of water for Cary, will be treated with a high concentration of bacteria-killing chlorine during a 48-hour period that began Friday night, Johnson said.

By providing this “shock treatment” to the well, which was built in 1963, Cary may be able to resume service as early as Thursday, Johnson said.

Since Wednesday, Cary’s customers have been advised to boil water before drinking it. The county Environmental Health Department, in its monthly test of the water’s quality in the private waterworks’ steel-encased well, discovered that it contained fecal coliform. Drinking fecal coliform can cause infections, diarrhea or an upset stomach, said Steven Wong, assistant director of the county agency.

“But we have not received any reports of illness,” Wong said.

Three hours after the agency notified Cary of its finding, the waterworks employees hand-delivered letters to customers telling them of the problem. “People accepted the letters and didn’t argue,” Johnson said. “We’ve gotten a few calls from people wanting a further explanation of the problem.”

Johnson and Wong said they don’t know the reason for the contamination. “It could have been caused by the storms we’ve had the last two weeks,” Wong said. “Or, it could have been caused by sewage contamination from another source.”

Cary and Environmental Health are testing to find the cause of contamination. Officials said their investigation may be completed by late next week.

Johnson said he did not know how much it would cost Cary to have Huntington Beach pump water to its customers or how much money would be spent to track down and solve the contamination problem.