For immediate release: December 9, 2007 (07-216)

Contacts:
Leslie Gates, Office of Drinking Water 360-556-7108 (cell)
Jeff Smith, Communications Office 360-236-4072; 360-540-3377 (pgr)

OLYMPIA ¾ Residents of a Grays Harbor water district hit hard by the winter storm got some welcome news today when a boil water advisory was lifted. The state Department of Health says residents of Grays Harbor Water District 2, Central Park, can now safely drink their tap water without first boiling it.

The health advisory was issued December 3 because the system had lost both power and water pressure due to last week’s storm.

Power was restored on Wednesday. The water system flushed its lines and maintained adequate chlorine to make sure no bacterial contamination would occur, and test samples were collected Friday.

Sample results came back Saturday and showed the water is safe to drink.

"I want to thank all of our customers for their patience during this difficult time," said Bob Wright, general manager of the water system. "Some people in our community are still without power; we’ve all got to help out wherever we can and we’ll get through this together."

The Department of Health’s drinking water staff has been working closely with the water system, which serves about 3,000 people in this community near Aberdeen.

###