The boil order affects private communities on the northeastern corner of the Olympic Peninsula. The communities are Kala Point, north of Port Hadlock and Rondelay Meadows, near Gardiner. Chlorinated water was being flushed through the water systems, and more tests will be conducted before the boil order is lifted. The likelihood that E. coli bacteria detected in the water would cause illnesses is small, Christensen said. E. coli bacteria live in the intestines of humans and other warm-blooded animals.
Most strains are harmless but some can be deadly.
At least seven people died and up to 2,000 others were sickened by E. coli bacteria that turned up last month in the drinking water in Walkerton, Ontario. Fecal coliform, which is carried in the feces of warm-blooded animals, typically is traced to failed septic systems and agricultural runoff. Kala Point Utility Co. It wasn't immediately known how contamination occurred in the Rondelay Meadows system, which serves about 20 homes. After follow-up tests confirmed the initial findings of contamination, residents were notified verbally and signs were posted. In a second round of lab results returned Friday, two wells showed no contamination, while fecal coliform bacteria were present in residential samples.