LAWTON – The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a boil order Tuesday for the Sunnyside Water Association in Comanche County.
Customers of the water system were advised to bring their water to a full, rolling boil for at least one minute – or use bottled water or water from another acceptable source – for consumption, use in food preparation, dishwashing, and brushing teeth.
Sunnyside is a neighborhood outside of Lawton that maintains its own public water supply, said Erin Hatfield, DEQ’s public information officer. The Sunnyside Water Association serves a residential population of 50, DEQ records reflect.
The boil order was issued because E. coli was detected in Sunnyside’s water distribution system, Ms. Hatfield said. “So far as I am aware, we do not know of a cause,” she told Southwest Ledger.
Federal law requires that consumers be notified when a public water supply exceeds certain maximum contaminant levels and might be harmful to the health of consumers.
The Ledger placed a telephone call to, and left a voice message for, a man whom DEQ records identify as the system operator. That call was placed at 3:23 p.m. Tuesday but the call was not returned by press time.
Sunnyside Water Association resells water it buys from the City of Lawton.
“Our system has a chlorine residual of 3.2 along the line that Sunnyside’s private line is fed from,” said Rusty Whisenhunt, Lawton’s public utilities director. “The problem of their failure is likely a plumbing cross-connect in one of their customers or a sampling error when the Bac-T test was sampled. There is no problem with the water delivered to them, and they do not pose threat to our system.”
Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria normally live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. Most types of E. coli are harmless or cause relatively brief diarrhea. But a few strains can cause severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting.
Humans can be exposed to E. coli from contaminated water or food, especially raw vegetables and undercooked ground beef. Healthy adults usually recover from an E. coli infection within a week, but young children and older adults have a greater risk of developing a life-threatening form of kidney failure. Sunnyside Water Association users will be notified when the water is considered safe for human consumption, Ms. Hatfield said.
“This boil order is not related to the coronavirus pandemic, and it is important to continue to wash your hands during the boil order,” she emphasized.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping hands clean is especially important to help prevent the virus from spreading, she noted. “It is safe to wash your hands with soap and tap water. If soap and tap water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol. If you have an open wound, you should use boiled or bottled water to wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.”