Riverton City revokes water boil order
May 19, 2026, 5:46 PM | Updated: May 21, 2026, 11:37 am
Residents in much of Riverton City were advised to boil their water after crews discovered secondary irrigation water was mixing with the city's culinary water system. (Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)
(Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A water boil order was lifted in Riverton after the Riverton City Water Department tested the culinary water and found there were no traces of harmful bacteria.
The boil order was initially issued after employees discovered what the city referred to as an “illegal cross connection between a property owner’s culinary water system and secondary irrigation water.”
In a statement, Riverton City officials said the order originally impacted residents from 3200 West east to the Jordan River, effectively the east border of Riverton City.
Anybody within those parameters were asked to boil their water before using.
Original boil order
Crews with Riverton City Water Department originally determined there was a problem after detecting a reverse flow of water from the city’s secondary irrigation system into public drinking water.
“The backflow discharge happened by way of an illegal cross connection between culinary water and secondary irrigation water at a property within the city boundary,” read a statement from Riverton City.
“Riverton Water Department tested the city’s drinking water supply on 5-19-2026 and is waiting a minimum of 48 hours for results,” the statement continued.
Specifically, the city:
- Tested for bacterial contamination of the drinking water system on May 19, 2026
- Will increase bacterial sampling in the area to monitor the city’s water
- Located the cross connection, and disconnected it.
Moving forward
Following the lifting of the boil order, Riverton city officials encouraged residents to flush their household pipes and faucets, wash and sanitize their ice trays and automatic ice makers, cycle their water heaters, water coolers, in line filters and other appliances with a water connection or water tanks, run their water softeners through a regeneration cycle, replace filters on Reverse Osmosis units, replace other water filters and to clean and sanitize all pet bowls.
Boil Water Order has been lifted and all water is safe to drink effectively immediately from 3200 W to the east border of Riverton. (Riverton City)
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