Oregon thunderstorm damages Gervais water system, residents under boil-water notice
The city of Gervais distributed bottled water to residents in need for the third straight day Tuesday as it awaited test results from a Salem laboratory to determine if its water is safe to drink.
The city's water system sustained damage during the weekend thunderstorm and has been under a water-boil notice since since Sunday.
City Manager John Morgan said he did not know whether there was a direct lightning strike on the system, but the damage occurred around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
"All we know is it fried a lot of electrical components, the controls and pumps that drive the system," Morgan said.
The city was without water for less than an hour before public works restored two of the system's three pumps, initially at significantly reduced pressure. But by morning, about 85% of the water pressure had been restored.
The city issued the boil water notice Sunday, advising residents to boil tap water used for drinking, brushing teeth, cooking and ice-making for at least 48 hours.
Gervais School District helped spread the word by sending a robocall to families and posting the notice on its website and mobile app. Classes started as scheduled Tuesday for sixth and ninth graders, and all other students start Wednesday.
"It'll be a little bit of a scramble tomorrow, but we're ready," Superintendent Dandy Stevens said Tuesday. "Let me tell you, this is nothing compared to the pandemic."
The district ordered a pallet of bottled water. Stevens said schools keep bottled water on hand anyway, so even if not needed now, it eventually will be used.
The food service staff shifted gears to ensure all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols were followed, including shutting down the ice machine and not using its steamer ovens or dishwashers.
Food service manager Melinda Fitz-Henry said she had been in contact with Marion County Environmental Health, and the staff planned to serve a limited menu, which meant no salad bar and only prepackaged, canned or frozen produce that does not need water.
Lab tests looking for bacteria in water typically take 24-48 hours. City officials were hopeful for a quicker turnaround in this case but the tests were delayed because of the holiday weekend..
Public works supervisor Kyle Jentzsch delivered four samples Tuesday morning to Waterlab Corporation. He said the lab handles all the city's potable and wastewater sampling.
"They are going above and beyond to get us results early tomorrow," Jentzsch said in an email Tuesday to the Statesman Journal. "We are anticipating a negative result for the coliform test on all four as this is a precautionary measure only. The four individual samples cover the corners of our town to represent a total picture of clean water."'
Informing about 720 households and 2,600 residents of the boil water notice was done the old-fashioned way and via social media.
"We visited all of them Sunday afternoon, handing out flyers," Morgan said,
Fellow city employees Jentzsch and Hunter Riggs, city council members John Harvey and Joel Ramon and some volunteers joined him.
"I'm just really proud of my community," Gervais Mayor Annie Gilland said. "It was a village effort."
She helped facilitate bottled water donations.
Mega Foods in Woodburn donated three pallets with 84 cases of water each. The city organized a daily distribution, limited to one case per family while supplies lasted. Gilland said the water went fast each day, in about 30 minutes on Monday.
Morgan said the city does not yet know the extent of damage to the water system or how much any repairs might cost.
"We're doing an after-incident process and will go through assessing the damage," he said. "That will take awhile, but it's a very high priority for us."
Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6710.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Gervais under boil-water notice due to damaged water system
