ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) – The drinking water advisory because of E. coli has been lifted in Englewood. Officials say customers should throw out ice, flush their faucets and flush other appliances “to ensure removal of all potentially contaminated water” before using tap water for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth once again.
The initial alert about the boil order was sent to people across the Denver metro area on Wednesday evening but it only affected part of the city of Englewood just south of the Denver city limits.
Customers in Zone 1 can once again use tap water for all purposes. That includes residences east of Santa Fe Drive and around South Broadway between East Yale Avenue and East Quincy Avenue.
Officials say they test water at dozens of sites at the beginning of each month. This month they did testing at 24 sites and one of them was found to contain E. coli bacteria.
LINK: City of Englewood Boil Order
“The health and safety of our community is of paramount importance to us as a public water provider. We understand that this issue has caused disruption to our customers and appreciate their patience and understanding as we have worked to correct the issue. When a system issue such as this occurs, our top priority is keeping the community safe,” Utilities Director Pieter Van Ry said in a prepared statement.
Additional Resources
The City of Englewood provided the following information about what residents should do when a boil order is lifted.
– Flush the plumbing in your home by running all cold water faucets for at least five minutes each. Begin with the lowest faucet in your home or business and then open the other faucets one at a time, moving from your lowest floor to your highest. After five minutes, turn off your faucets in reverse order, from highest to lowest.
– Flush all appliances connected to the water line, like refrigerators and dishwashers.
– Disposable filters that have come in contact with contaminated water should be removed and replaced.
– Ice from ice makers should be dumped and replaced three times. Ice maker containers should be wiped clean with a solution of two tablespoons bleach to one gallon of water.
