To all Patrons of Kootenai
County Water District No. 1:
This message is from the Board of Directors:
The widespread loss of power in the area has shut all of the pumps down throughout the District water system. As a result, all of the reservoir capacity has been used up in the last two days.
Due to the system depressurization, it is important that you do not drink any of the water that you may still be receiving per directive of the DEQ. I repeat, it is important that you do not drink any of the water that you may still be receiving. Please drink bottled water only at this time. For safety, empty out your automatic ice makers and turn them off at this time until the District confirms that the water is safe for human consumption.
With the assistance of our interim water charge operator, Paul Sifford, and the Idaho Rural Water Association, we have mobilized some emergency measures. Kootenai County Emergency Response will be sending emergency bottled drinking water for KCWD#1 Patrons. This drinking water supply will be staged at the Fire Station at 7739 E. Sunnyside Rd. Please monitor this District blog at www.kcwd1.blog.com for availability. Please take only the minimum you and your family need to get by daily. There is an estimated 750 people in our community and we need to help each other out during this emergency.
In addition, Kootenai County Emergency Response will be arranging for some Portable Toilets to be placed at the Fire Station for public use. If needed, the District will arrange for a non-potable water tanker truck so that Patrons can fill containers to recharge their toilets.
The District Board has also authorized our Electrical contractor to make temporary connections to generators at the Pump House and the Raw Water Intake Pump House to begin recharging the system. Contingent on Avista’s changing ETR, the work can be started tomorrow and completed no later than Saturday morning. We will work with Avista to determine if this makes sense to do at this time.
Whether the system is powered up by generator or by Avista power coming back on, and water service is restored, do not drink the water without boiling it for at least one minute. The District system will have to be flushed and tested numerous times to verify water safety, so please use the water after the system first comes back on for non-drinking purposes only, such as flushing toilets. The District will notify you when the water is safe for human consumption. When the water purity has been confirmed by the District, change your refrigerator filters before turning automatic ice makers back on.
This information, as well as updates, can be found on the District blog at www.kcwd1.blogspot.com. You can find this internet site by searching for “kcwd1 blog”.
Please contact your neighbors and make sure that they have gotten this message. Not everyone has supplied the District with an Emergency contact phone number.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this emergency.
