Following is the progress report issued by Crestview this morning on the testing process to be completed before the Unsafe Water Alert can be lifted. State and County agencies and Calleguas are involved. It appears that among the reasons for not reverting immediately from Calleguas water to well water is that that could slow the testing timeline.
OVERVIEW
The unprecedented, fast-moving Mountain Fire caused widespread and devastating damage to the Camarillo, Somis, and surrounding areas. Several homes were lost or damaged.
The State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water issued an Unsafe Water Alert because Crestview Water was impacted by a wildfire over a widespread area. This is a very strict measure to ensure the safety of all water users. The operations staff is working diligently and in coordination with our Emergency Response Water Agency Partner – Calleguas Municipal Water District, to enable a highly coordinated protocol before Crestview can lift this Unsafe Water Alert.
SECURING THE SYSTEM and LINE FLUSHING
The phases of work began with the water system secured, leaks repaired, and all connections to lost homes disconnected by staff. Next, an extremely labor-intensive flushing of every water line in the water system was conducted. This occurred on Friday afternoon and ended at 10 pm that Friday night. Because of our skilled water utility and emergency response partners, what would have taken several days to complete was performed in hours.
TESTING PROTOCOL
The water must sit for a mandated period of time in the lines after flushing before any laboratory testing can occur. Our expert water quality and emergency response partners were able to obtain the most favorable sitting time possible.
The first phase of water quality testing is being conducted starting Sunday, November 10th. The next phase of tests, consisting of multiple locations in each pressure zone of the water system, is scheduled to be conducted on Monday in coordination with our emergency response partners.
Once all mandated water quality tests are performed and the system passes the water quality tests, we will coordinate with our emergency response partners to lift the Unsafe Water Alert with the State Water Board Division of Drinking Water and Ventura County Environmental Health.
The exact timing of the release of the Unsafe Water Advisory cannot be determined at this time. Due to ongoing SCE power issues, we have converted to imported water from Calleguas Municipal Water District as a precautionary measure to prevent interruptions in groundwater pumping.
Please refer to the Unsafe Water Alert notice for more information.
POTABLE WATER FILLING STATION AVAILABLE DUE TO UNSAFE WATER ALERT THIS WEEKEND
Calleguas Municipal Water District coordinated and obtained approval to set up a Potable Water Filling Station:
- A potable water filling station will be located at Calleguas’ facility at 600 Via Zamora (adjacent to the Springville Hills Tennis Courts).
- The filling station will be open from 12pm-4pm Sunday (November 10th).
- The filling station is only available to water users of Crestview Mutual Water Company, Pleasant Valley Mutual Water Company, and California American Water Company that are currently under the Unsafe Water Alert.
Customers must bring their own buckets, jugs, or vessels to fill up for daily water use. Please limit the capacity of each vessel to 5 gallons.
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Thank you for the update on the water testing process.
Question: Once the testing shows the “all clear” signs of safe water, is there a protocol that homeowners should follow to clear the water lines within their property?