City of Rawlins issues boil water order for residents

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) – The following release was posted on the City of Rawlins’ Facebook page on March 3rd:

“Updates as of 9:00 pm 3/3/22:

1. The Fairgrounds are open with bottled drinking water available until 10pm tonight and will reopen on Friday morning at 7am. Thanks to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the generous donations of water driven from Salt Lake City, and Rawlins Search and Rescue Volunteers to distribute. Thanks to Carbon County Road and Bridge & Mike’s Big City Bar and Grill for also providing water immediately this afternoon.

2. The Fairgrounds also has drinkable well water available for filling your own container. This water is available at any spigot at the big red new Horse Barn, and it does not need to be boiled.

3. The C4 Emergency Response Center and the Rawlins Fire Department have dropped two portable water tanks to the Glenn Edition for large livestock. This is filled with drinking water that is safe for the livestock. Please bring your own bucket or other device to carry the water to your lot. See map for specific locations: https://rawlinswy.org/…/2022-03-03—Glenn-Addition…

4. If your water heater has emptied, please turn off your pilot light as a fire safety measure. At this point, all fire trucks have water on board to respond to emergencies.

5. City Manager Shawn Metcalf, City Engineer Austin Gilbert, and Community Relations Mira Miller sat down with Jim O’Riley and Cali O’Hare of Bigfoot 99 for a live interview about the situation at 5:30pm. You can listen to this entire interview on their website at https://bigfoot99.com/…/rawlins-water-emergency…/.

6. Food Service Establishments have been closed per Department of Agriculture guidelines due to the boil water notice. As with individuals, businesses can get drinking water from the well at the fairgrounds for their use. Please reserve bottled water for drinking.

7. Thanks to the whole community for their efforts. Stories are continuing to emerge about neighbors helping neighbors, and all citizens who has called the C4 Call Center have been very understanding. This incident has shown what a resilient and wonderful community we are all blessed to live in.

Update at 3:20pm:

DRINKING WATER WARNING

The City of Rawlins water system lost pressure in the distribution system due to issues discussed below.

BOIL YOUR WATER FOR THREE MINUTES BEFORE USING

The City of Rawlins water system lost pressure due to three problems at the same time – reduced flow into town from the springs, in town-water breaks which drained our tank reserves, and a pump issue at the water treatment plant, our water reserves are critically low. This led to a loss of pressure in the distribution system, which may cause backpressure, backsiphonage, or a net movement of water from outside the pipe to the inside through cracks, breaks, or joints in the distribution system that are common in all water systems . Such a system failure carries with it a high potential that fecal contamination or other disease-causing organisms could enter the distribution system. These conditions may pose an imminent and substantial endangerment of health to persons served by the system.

What should I do?

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST. Bring all water to a rolling boil for at least (3) three minutes, and let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water. ALL STORED WATER, DRINK OR ICE MADE RECENTLY FROM THIS SUPPLY SHALL BE DISCARDED.

Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses, and parasites which can cause symptoms such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly and people with severely compromised immune systems.

The symptoms above are not caused only by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. People at increased risk should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.

What happened? What is being done?

Please see below for detailed information on the causes and actions taken regarding this water shortage.

Where can I get bottled water?

Bottled drinking water available to residents in critical need of water after 6pm at the Carbon County Fairgrounds Multiplex. If you are homebound and need water delivered call the C4 (Carbon County Emergency Management) Call Center at 307-328-7777.

We will inform you when you no longer need to boil your water. For more information, please contact the C4 Call Center at 307-328-7777.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.”

Copyright 2022 Wyoming News Now. All rights reserved.

You might also like

Comments are closed.