E.Coli found in Medical Lake water

Some 131 Medical Lake residents received disturbing news last week.

A notice, hand delivered by city maintenance personnel on Wednesday, July 24, informed them that routine water samples had tested positive for E.coli bacteria. The notice advised residents to use bottled water or boil tap water for one minute until further notice.

“It was my worst nightmare,” Scott Duncan, Medical Lake maintenance supervisor, said.

Additional samples were drawn and submitted for testing the same day and came back without any signs of E.coli, and the boil order was lifted.

The initial notice was issued earlier than required by state law.

“I’m weird about risk management,” City Administrator Doug Ross said.

Legally, notification is not required until 24 hours after results from a second set of samples have been received, according to Joseph Perkins, coliform program manager at the Office of Drinking Water for the Washington State Department of Health.

It takes about 18 hours for bacteria from samples to grow and indicate if E.coli is present after the lab receives samples.

“If comes back bad, then they have 24 hours to issue a notice to the public,” Perkins said. “That is mandatory.

Once the city was notified of the initially unsatisfactory test results, and after some internal discussion, Medical Lake officials decided to issue the boil order right away rather than wait for results from the second test.

“If I lived here I would want to know,” Duncan, who lives just outside city limits, said.

Perkins noted the city had, “erred on the side of caution to protect their residents.”

The testing standard for the presence if E.coli is zero, according to Perkins. Testing frequency for a city the size of Medical Lake is six samples per month.

Officials were able to quickly isolate which residents were impacted by the potentially contaminated water because Medical Lake’s water distribution system is divided into zones by water source.

The water source for the affected area is from a system intertie with a well on the Eastern State Hospital campus. No contamination was found in hospital water, according to DSHS officials.

Once E.coli is found in a municipal water system, operators are required to collect at least three new samples for a retest — one from the same location as the original sample, plus one sample each from upstream and downstream of the original sample location.

Medical Lake collected nine samples, Duncan said, three times more than required, in an effort to isolate every potential contamination source.

All nine tests came back negative for E.coli.

“That was one of the best phone calls you can get,” Duncan said, clearly relieved that the situation turned out as it did.

But Duncan said he still has work to do.

“I’ve got to rebuild trust in the water system,” he said.

E.coli is a subset of fecal coliform, which is in-turn part of total coliform, Perkins said. Fecal coliform is found in feces, which can be harmful to humans.

Total coliform is simply a larger collection of common bacteria found in many things, such as dirt, dust and nearly all the foods we eat, Perkins said.

“If you eat a salad you’re eating total coliform,” he said, adding, “Not all bacteria are bad or harmful.”

And while most E.coli bacteria are harmless — it’s also present in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals — some strains can cause health issues, according to the health department information. Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, and fever.

Although only routine testing will be required going forward, the Department of Health will be monitoring the situation for the next month, Perkins said.

“It was much ado about nothing, which is awesome,” Ross said.

Lee Hughes can be reached at [email protected].