Water utility acknowledges potential of E. coli presence - CBS 5 - KPHO

The utility that provides water to portions of the San Tan Valley on Wednesday acknowledged a positive test could mean E. coli bacteria in its water supply, but that it began warning residents on Wednesday to continue to use caution with the water.

Johnson Utilities said routine sampling of its water showed one positive result for the E. coli bacteria on Aug. 18. The utility said it believed it to be a false result because it contradicted previous sampling results.

The results of subsequent retests on Aug. 19 were returned Tuesday and one of the 89 samples was positive for coliform, a bacterium it said is naturally present in the environment and used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present.

Many businesses were shut down and several people express their fears of getting ill from the bacteria they first learned about when the Florence School District posted on its website a warning about positive test results by Johnson Utilities.

The company acknowledged the positive results in a statement just before noon Wednesday, saying that it will be maintaining the current warning until they can confirm more recent samples of the water supply come back negative. [Read the complete statement below.]

It said new samples have been sent to the state and that customers should refrain from drinking the water or using for such activities as washing dishes and brushing teeth, unless it has been boiled.

The company said it believes the contamination is the result of the recent heavy monsoon rains.

Johnson Utilities said it had 24 hours to notify the public after it received the results Tuesday and told area schools on its water system of the potential as a courtesy.

Some patrons were angry that they couldn't get their morning coffee from the local Starbucks that shut its doors Wednesday morning. The owners posted a note on their door telling customers the potential contaminated water forced them to close, and the patrons' anger turned into fear for their health.

A nearby Burger King and McDonald's quickly followed suit by closing for business. A large pile of ice was dumped outside the McDonald's. Water stations suddenly became popular spots for residents.

Walker Butte School in San Tan sent text messages to parents warning them of the bacteria and had pallets of bottled water delivered to the school, Principal John Allee said. He also told CBS 5 News they were providing lots of hand sanitizer because they shut off sinks and hand-washing stations.

Angry customers loudly voiced their displeasure at the Johnson Utilities billing office in Queen Creek and are looking for answers from the company.

"We are updating our website. As soon we find out information, we're giving the information out," one employee told the customers before they were asked to leave.

The Johnson Utilities' website makes no mention of E. coli or contains results of any E. coli testing in August by noon.

Here is the company's complete statement:

"On August 21, 2012, Johnson Utilities initiated the release of a drinking water warning to its customers in the lower east valley. Johnson Utilities apologizes for the inconvenience this warning may have caused to our valuable customers. The warning resulted from a broad-spectrum test that suggested the potential presence of E. coli bacteria; although E. Coli was not detected in retesting in any of the 89 samples, one sample was positive for total coliform.

"We first became aware of a potential problem on August 18 when our routine sampling revealed some positive results for E. coli that we believed to be false since they contradicted the results of our previous regular sampling.

"We conducted a retest on August 19. On August 21 results became available from the lab indicating that of the 75 samples taken, none showed any presence of e-coli. One resample was however positive for total coliform. Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other, potentially-harmful, bacteria may be present.

"The tests also showed presence of residual chlorine, which is present in the water as a disinfectant in an amount sufficient to kill any harmful bacteria.

"Further, 14 samples taken on August 19 at our drinking water wells were negative for both total coliform and E. coli. After consulting with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Johnson Utilities issued a drinking water warning in compliance with the drinking water rules. For those who may not have yet received a copy of the warning, a copy is attached to this news release. The drinking water rules require a drinking water system to issue the warning if any resamples are positive for total coliform.

"Johnson Utilities will be maintaining the warning in effect until we have confirmed that further resamples are all negative. Three resamples have been submitted to our State approved laboratory and the results will be available early on August 23, 2012. Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend that our customers comply with our warning which recommends that boiled or bottle water be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation until further notice.

"The safety of our customers is our first concern. Our families live in our service area and consume the same water as our other valued customers. We will take whatever measures are necessary to assure Johnson Utilities' water is safe and that we have complied with federal and state law," said Greg Brown, vice president of operations for Johnson Utilities.

"Some of our customers are wondering how this can happen. Water systems do get contaminated from time to time; however, in this case, we believe there never was any contamination. Rather the false positives that were detected likely resulted from sampling errors or cross-contamination by the laboratory.

"Over the past two weeks, the water system has not experienced any changes in pressure or increase in flows. There were no leaks found. These would be indicators of contamination getting into the system. We are constantly reviewing our procedures to assure clean and safe water for our customers. Once we receive testing results tomorrow, Johnson Utilities will issue a new statement."

Stay with cbs5az.com and CBS 5 News as this story develops.

Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.