STATELINE - A boil water order was issued by Nevada environmental officials for 2,600 customers of the Kingsbury General Improvement District after trace amounts of groundwater were found leaking into the district's distribution system.
The order issued Thursday is expected to last into next week.
The district provides water service to customers in the Kingsbury Grade area, Lake Village, and to the Highway 50 and Kahle Drive areas of Stateline.
Users are urged to boil their water for one minute, then cool it before use for drinking, food preparation, brushing teeth, ice making or dish washing. Alternatively, bottled water is recommended. The order was handed down by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.
Several restaurants and businesses as well as permanent and seasonal homes were affected by the district's order. It does not include the casino corridor, which is on a separate water system.
The leak is due to an unusually high groundwater table that has risen this year and a failed seal, district officials said. Shallow groundwater was discovered leaking into the clearwell at the same location the district pumps water into the distribution system. The leak was around a pipe that delivers chlorine to the clearwell.
According to KGID, the clearwell normally pumps about 1,300 gallons per minute. The utility estimates the size of the leak at 1 to 2 gallons per minute. Before water enters the district's system, it is treated with ozone to eliminate giardia and viruses, and with chlorine to kill bacteria.
The clearwell in question receives water from the lake that is already treated with ozone, but the small leak occurred after ozone treatment, district officials said. Both the incoming Lake Tahoe water and the groundwater leaking into the clearwell are still being treated with chlorine.
As soon as the leak was discovered, the district immediately began taking steps to address the problem, said General Manager Candi Rohr. A special sealant was ordered to plug the leak, and the pipe will be rerouted well above the water table. The sealant was expected to be in place sometime Friday, Rohr said.
Once the leak is stopped, testing will be done over several days to verify the effectiveness of the repairs.
The order to boil water is expected to be in effect into next week to allow for testing and purging of the distribution system.
"Both NDEP and KGID recognize that public health and safety are paramount," said Doug Zimmerman, chief of NDEP's Bureau of Safe Drinking Water. "KGID is complying fully with the order, and appears to be doing its best to remedy this problem as quickly as possible. Although the leak is relatively small, we don't want to take any chances that someone might become ill."