Water contamination prompts boil order, school closures | News

School was canceled Tuesday for East Valley High School, East Valley Middle School and Trentwood Elementary School because of concerns about the water.

An East Valley School District representative said the water going to the schools was brown and is being tested by Trentwood Irrigation.

"We had to get the word out to my staff to lock locker rooms, lock restrooms, man drinking fountains and then kids know as they came in the building the water was unsafe to use today," East Valley High School principal Jeff Miller said.

The water to the building was shut off and drinking fountains were labeled with signs.

The emergency stemmed from a Trentwood Irrigation district pump failure. According to Devon Sinsley with Trentwood Irrigation, a well malfunctioned and was pumping muddy water back into the system.

In addition to East Valley High School, East Valley Middle School and Trentwood Elementary were also impacted along with about 1,600 homes and businesses in the area.

The water district flushed out the system. It opened fire hydrants in the area to get the muddy water out and also turned off the faulty pump.

A recording on Trentwood Irrigation's phone line told people to boil their water and not to drink it. About 1,600 customers of Trentwood Irrigation were impacted by the boil order. Testing was being done on the water and when results came back Wednesday morning, the water was deemed safe to drink.

Without water, the school district closed the three schools and sent kids home Tuesday. The district said that school will resume normal operations on Wednesday.