Residents in Draper are currently facing a water safety crisis after the detection of a dangerous cross-connection in their water supply. According to KUTV, hundreds of locals served by the water company WaterPro have been instructed to boil their water following potential contamination concerns. The reports suggest that E. coli, bacteria, and other viruses might be present in the supply, prompting an advisory that is expected to last until at least 4 p.m. tomorrow.
The boil order follows the discovery of an "illegal cross connection," where irrigation lines meant solely for watering lawns were found to have backfed into the culinary water system. "It was an illegal cross connection there was just a pressurized irrigation only service where the people were just watering their lawn, they ended up doing a change with the irrigation line open, they opened up the culinary and things just back fed into the system," Darrin Jensen-Peterson, WaterPro's general manager, explained to KUTV. Efforts to flush the system are underway, with crew members working diligently to ensure contamination is purged.
The immediate response included local businesses like Arctic Circle in Draper, whose general manager, Tori Hales, stated, as obtained by KUTV, "I don’t want to be the one that gets anybody sick." Measures, including shutting down soda and ice machines and relying on bottled water, have been enforced to maintain operations amid the advisory.
Additionally, the Utah Division of Drinking Water has issued a boil order for the impacted area as a precautionary measure. According to FOX 13, the cross-connection has since been completely disconnected. WaterPro continues to take numerous water quality samples, although they are advising that it can take up to one to two days for the test results to be completely ensured that the water is safe for consumption.
