Portland issued 'boil notice' after E.coli found in reservoir

PORTLAND, Ore. - E.coli was found in some of Portland's drinking water, prompting a 'boil water notice' for Saturday evening. It was lifted early Sunday morning after further testing.

The bacterial contamination was discovered during a routine check of a reservoir. After discovering E.coli in the water, the Portland Water Bureau issued the boil notice for the west side of Portland.

The Portland Water Bureau lifted the 'boil notice' early Sunday morning after further test samples from the reservoir came back negative for E.coli. They are continuing an investigation into how the reservoir could have been contaminated.

Those households under the boil notice were instructed to bring any consumed water to a rolling boil for one minute before consumption or to use bottled water. This included making sure that unboiled tap water wasn't used when making ice, brushing teeth, preparing food, etc. and tossing any food or beverages that had been made with water straight from the tap.

Since the reservoir provided water to a large number of residents, the Portland Water Bureau and health officials said they didn't want to take any chances.

"The bottom line is we're being very cautious, very conservative and we hope and we expect that we won't have anybody that becomes ill from drinking water," said David Shaff with the Portland Water Bureau.

Portland experienced a similar 'boil notice' in late 2009, a seagull was determined to be responsible for the positive E.coli test sample.

• For more information about the boil notice look to our Portland affiliate.