KMPH Fox 26 Central San Joaquin Valley News Source in Fresno, California Entertainment, News, Sports and Weather | Boil Water Order in Fresno's Herndon Town

Boil Water Order in Fresno's Herndon Town

By Norma Yuriar

Fresno, Calif.  (KMPH News) - The city of Fresno is providing Marilynn Ochoa and the entire Herndon Town community enough bottled water to get them through the long weekend.  This after bacteria was discovered in the water system.

"They said that our water was contaminated, do not drink it, boil it if we needed to drink it," said Ochoa.

The State Department of Public Health issued the notice Friday morning.

"But, we heard about this 4 days ago and nobody did anything and we started calling the Curtises," said Ochoa.

The Curtis family owns the Herndon Water Company which serves about 70 homes in northwest Fresno near Highway 99.

Jim Curtis tells KMPH News Coliform bacteria was found during a routine check of the water supply.  But, he doesn't believe he should pay to fix the problem.  The dispute revolves around a city owned pipe which runs through Herndon Town.  According to Curtis it has been leaking for months and the muddy water contaminated one the company's water wells.

But, the city of Fresno says the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) confirmed the leaky pipe had nothing to do with it.

"There are two wells that serve Herndon Water Company, one older well that was constructed in the 50's and it's not up to current well construction standards, there is a possibility that due to the sanitary seal that some type of contaminate entered the well site," said Lon Martin with the Fresno City Department of Public Utilities.

The city of Fresno is evaluating options to assist the Herndon Water Company with decontaminating the water well.  Martin says the incident is isolated to Herndon Town and the city's water supply is not affected by the contamination issue.

As for Ochoa, she just wants the problem fixed.

"There are a lot of people concerned; a lot of diarrhea has been going around.  I'm sure it's from the bacteria in the water," said Ochoa.

Diarrhea is one of the symptoms of the Coliform bacteria and that's why health officials are emphasizing the need to boil tap water before drinking it.

The city of Fresno says there are no confirmed Coliform cases in Herndon Town.  The 'boil water order' will remain in affect until further notice.