SEQUIM — Customers of Vistas Inc. Water System are being advised to boil their tap water before drinking it.
Vistas Inc. customers live outside Sequim city limit.
A valve broke in the water system Friday morning, said Leslie Thorpe, a manager in the Office of Drinking Water within the state Department of Health.
The valve was repaired later in the afternoon, but to do so the system had to be depressurized.
That could allow bacteria to grow in the system, Thorpe said Saturday.
The system is required to submit five different tests for coliform bacteria before the “boil water advisory”‘ can be lifted, but Thorpe did not know when the results would be returned.
“It’s not that there would be necessarily bacterial problems, we just want to make sure nobody gets sick,” she said, noting that the system operator had notified residents by telephone.
The system serves 88 single family residences, or about 240 people, Thorpe said.
The department advises water be boiled for use in cooking, brushing teeth, washing dishes and drinking.
Water for these uses should be boiled for three to five minutes, then cooled before use.
Unboiled water can be used for bathing, she said.
