Mapleton may rescind order to boil water today

MAPLETON — Water tests planned for today could bring an end to boiling in the city — both the kind done on the stove and the kind that happens to tempers.

Nearly a fourth of the city's 6,500 residents have been forced to boil culinary water from their taps since Saturday when testing confirmed the presence of E. coli bacteria in the water system serving the southwest quadrant of Mapleton.

About 1,200 residents living in 300 homes have been affected by the boil order, which stems from contaminated runoff water from snowmelt and recent rains that managed to work its way into the water system supplied by nearby mountain springs.

If all goes well, the boil order could be lifted by noon, city officials said Monday night. The city has been flushing the affected water lines with large doses of chlorine in an attempt to eliminate the E. coli bacteria, said City Manager Bob Bradshaw.

City crews also stopped drawing water from the spring believed responsible for the contamination. Two other springs continue to supply the city's water needs.

In addition to boiling their water, a few residents in the affected quadrant south of 400 North and west of 400 West, said their tempers were near the boiling point after being overlooked in the initial emergency notification effort on Saturday.

Police officers, volunteer firefighters and volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emergency services network in the largely LDS town began going door-to-door warning residents to boil their water and handing out fliers, Bradshaw said.

Resident Blake Christensen, who lives in the area of 300 South and 800 West, said he and about 10 of his neighbors were overlooked in the process. He said he found out about the boil order around 9 p.m. Saturday night when a friend called.

"They missed this end of town," he said of the flier distributors.

Like his neighbors, he has been boiling his water since learning about the contamination. He went to nearby Spanish Fork and filled a 10-gallon water cooler for drinking, he said.

"I'm not mad about (the contamination). I'm mad about not getting notified. I still don't have a flier," he said Monday.

Bradshaw said he wasn't aware anyone was missed.

City officials believe the problem is nearing resolution.