Magna Water District lifts boil order for drinking water

MAGNA, Utah — The Magna Water District has lifted its boil order Friday, one day after finding a raccoon in a storage tank. The city was ordered to boil its drinking water before use to prevent the possibility of E.coli contamination.

Operators report immediately removing the raccoon and isolating the reservoir from the distribution system. The water district said it began sampling for bacterial contaminants and chlorine residual before flushing and disinfecting the distribution system and reservoirs.

After testing several water samples, the district has confirmed there is no harmful bacterial contamination in the drinking water system.  Officials say they have resolved the issue and say it is no longer necessary to boil the drinking water.

“All evidence indicates that the water has met and continues to meet the State drinking water standards despite our concerns,” the district said in a statement.

The water district reports it had conducted its regular bacterial testing Monday — three days prior to discovering a raccoon in the storage tank. After finding the animal, two more tests were conducted Wednesday and Thursday.

The order was issued to the entire district service area. That includes all of Magna Metro Township and portions of West Valley City (between 7200 West and 5600 West and 2820 South and 2100 South). It also includes parts of Salt Lake City (between 7600 West and 7200 West and 2100 South and 1300 South).

Officials said chlorine residuals are “above minimum requirements in the tank and distribution system,” which is good news. But they say they issued the boil order “to limit potential health impacts.”

The raccoon got into the tank through a screen removed from the overflow drain pipe for construction improvements. Officials say the screen was reinstalled to prevent future incidents. Officials also say that, based on the condition of the raccoon, the body was not in the tank for very long.