Hundreds of homes and businesses now have running water in Dos Palos, but it's been deemed undrinkable unless boiled first. The city said their filtration system, which dates back to the 60's became clogged, causing two outages
over the weekend.
Rita Huitron's 3rd grade classroom at Marks Elementary in Dos Palos is a part of the 5 schools in the Oro Lomo Joint Unified School District being issued bottled water for students.
"We were informed that the students were not to drink the water and we're not to drink the water," said Huitron.
The city said water was shut down Saturday for a period of time and then again on Sunday from 11AM to 8PM, because their filtration system at the plant became clogged.
"As demand increased and we were unable to produce water at the same rate, we were in a situation where we had to shut the system off in order to replenish our reserve," said Dos Palos City Manager, Darrell Fonseca.
The school district was prepared just in case the water wasn't turned back on in time for classes Monday. They purchased 20 pallets of bottled water, ordered 50-60 portable restrooms and made sure they stocked up on food which doesn't require the use of water to cook it.
"As parents call in, and they do, it's business as usual. School's open, school's running and we have food to eat and water to drink," said Dos Palos Superintendent, Brian Walker.
Although water is up and running again, residents are advised not to drink it.
The city asks that it's boil for at least one minute before drinking. Any time water pressure in the system drops, water samples must be taken to ensure there isn't any bacteria in the water.
As for now, the city has plans for a temporary fix before a complete overhaul of the system.
"In fact, as we speak, I have the city engineer and some contractors getting bids right now on the replacement of the filtration system," said Fonseca.
The city is asking that you conserve water at this time until further notice. In the long run, the city is looking to completely build a new water plant, however it will cost around $6 million. They are currently in the process of requesting federal funds.