4:20 PM

Residents and businesses west of the Willamette River may now drink tap water without boiling it first. Additional testing of drinking water has shown no further presence of bacterial contamination. The Portland Water Bureau recommends all residents and businesses flush all taps for 2 minutes or until the water runs cold before consuming for the first time.

Earlier this week, contamination was detected in Washington Park Reservoir 3 that serves west side customers of the Portland Water Bureau, and the Palatine Hills, Valley View and Burlington water districts. That reservoir has been taken off-line and being drained, which will take up to four days. The reservoir will be tested, investigated for contamination, and cleaned before it is put back on line.

On Saturday, in addition to the sites required for resampling, the Portland Water Bureau sampled twenty sites in the distribution system. Eighteen of these sites were downstream of Reservoir 3 and reflect the area affected by the boil water notice. All of these samples were negative for total coliform and E.coli, indicating that there is not persistent widespread contamination in the distribution system.

The initial positive E.coli sample was sent to Legacy Emanuel Laboratory for typing and laboratory results indicate that the E.coli found in Reservoir 3 are not the O:157:H7 strain of E.coli, which is associated with more serious illness.

The Portland Water Bureau thanks Portlanders for their cooperation and understanding during the mandatory “Boil Water Notice”. The Portland Water Bureau consulted closely with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services and the Multnomah County Health Department to provide the best possible protection to the public.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example people in apartments, nursing homes, schools and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

For more information visit www.portlandonline.com/water or call the Water Bureau Customer Service line at (503) 823-7770.