Kaysville water system flushed out

KAYSVILLE — Kaysville residents received letters this past weekend from the city saying coliform bacteria had been found in six of 10 drinking water samples tested in early July at the Davis County Health Department.

Health department director Lewis Garrett said Wednesday that the county had retested the water and flushed the system, and whatever worry residents had should be gone now.

The coliform variety that analysts discovered wasn't the fecal variety, Garrett said, meaning there's a low risk for bacteria such as E. coli, which cause cause gastrointestinal illnesses.

"I would be a lot more concerned about this if it had tested positive for fecal coliform," Garrett said.

Even so, enough samples have had positive results for bacteria that the health department is checking for parasites and protozoa, such as cryptosporidium.

After Kaysville got word of elevated levels of bacteria, the city flushed its water system, Garrett said. Retesting found two samples with the coliform bacteria, which led to a second flush of the system.

All subsequent tests, including nine completed Wednesday afternoon, have found no coliform, he said.

Garrett said higher temperatures during the summer can sometimes lead to bacterial growth in the most distant ends of a water system where water may be more stagnant than in central locations. Water samples, including those taken by the city and the health department, had been taken from the distal ends of the system.

The health department so far hasn't nailed down a cause for the increased levels of coliform, but the stagnant-water theory is a good one, Garrett said.

Other potential causes of coliform growth include pressure changes that cause a backflow from secondary to culinary systems, new construction or an animal that somehow gets into a storage tank and drowns.

"I've seen that two or three times," Garrett said. "But these tests were not that bad. It was cleaned up quickly. It doesn't look like a systemic problem."

Kaysville Mayor Neka Roundy said that when she learned of the bacteria, she wanted to make sure her city's public works department was complying with the health department's recommendations.

She said the city sent the letters to residents because state law dictates that residents be informed about water test results.

"As far as I know, we're in compliance with what they want us to do and what the state needs," Roundy said.

Garrett said elevated bacteria levels happen from time to time.

"We had a couple incidents last year," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we had a couple this year in Davis County."

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com