The Associated Press, July 3, 1997
Homes and businesses hooked up to Aberdeen's water supply will be advised to boil drinking water when heavy rain or other factors make the water too cloudy, health officials announced.
Floods earlier this year damaged the city's watershed, potentially allowing harmful germs to enter the water supply. The system serves about 6,100 customers in Aberdeen, Cosmopolis and Wishkah River.
Aberdeen is working on a new water-filtration system that is expected to come on line in two years.
Until then, residents might be advised to boil their drinking water after heavy and prolonged rains, the state Department of Health said Tuesday.
Water samples will be taken after heavy storms. A boil advisory will be issued if the level of turbidity, or cloudiness, in the water supply is too high, health officials said.
Any decision on when to issue a boil advisory will be made jointly by the Grays Harbor Health Department, state health officials and Aberdeen's Public works Department.
The potential for serious illness is low, but boiling water is the best way to kill harmful organisms such as cryptosporidium and giardia, which can't be eliminated with traditional chlorine treatment, health officials say.
Although symptoms vary slightly, both parasites can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps, bloating, gas, fatigue, weight loss, nausea, vomiting and fever, said Jan Jernigan, an epidemiologist with the state health department.