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.
