300 in Powell Butte under boil-water notice

Avion Water has issued a boil-water notice for its Red Cloud Ranch customers in Powell Butte. About 300 residents have been forced to boil tap water since last Sunday.

For some, it’s been an inconvenience just to perform simple everyday tasks.

“Every night, going downstairs to get the water you boiled, bring it upstairs, and to wash your toothbrush off and do that whole thing, so it’s just an inconvenience because it’s a way we’re used to living,” Brett Anderson said Friday.

Anderson, who lives with his wife and three kids, said boiling the water has become tedious.

Another Avion customer said this pales in comparison to having to travel two miles to a well to get water, something she used to do.

“Kind of like camping a little bit, you just drink out of the bottled water, and we just boil water for our coffee and things like that,” Linda Smith said. “The rest of it, we just use out of the tap.”

Avion President Jason Wick said the company tests the water monthly, a process that takes time.

“The nature of the water in Powell Butte requires a water test that takes three to five days to pass or fail,” Wick said.

Customers like Anderson feel that message hasn’t been relayed properly. All he’s received is a paper notice and one phone call.

“We live in a communication era, so it would be nice to have it on the web page or anything like that,” Anderson said. “I’m sure they’re swamped and overwhelmed with everything that is going on, so it’s just life.”

Because of a water-line break, the tests came back positive for coliform bacteria, w Which means something could or couldn’t be in the water.

“Obviously, we understand how inconvenient it is,” Wick said. “If we could go faster, we would, but we have to keep the public’s health and safety in mind and we have to take all the right steps.”

Even though this may be a hiccup, it’s not going to deter Smith from using Avion water.

“It’s been good to have them,” Smith said. “We really are happy that we have them, and if this is a little inconvenience, it’s not that big of a problem.”

“You just hope it gets done soon,” Anderson said. “Hope it gets finished.”

Avion said it expects the results from their latest testing to come in next Friday. Until then, residents will be boiling with anticipation.