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Santa Fe County Utilities Lifts Precautionary “Boil Water Advisory” for Santa Fe County Utilities’ West Sector Water System following confirmation of the absence of contamination. (August 23, 2017)

Ruptured Water Line Causes Outage to County West Sector Residents

A 16 inch water transmission line was damaged this morning and water supply to the west sector of the Santa Fe County’s Water System disrupted. The west sector area includes La Tierra, La Mariposa, Las Campanas Estates I & II, La Serena, Tessera, Northwest Ranches, Salva Tierra, Tiera de Oro, Los Suenos Sonrisa, and Aldea subdivisions. Repair of the waterline is currently underway and is expected to be completed by 8:00 PM tonight.

The ruptured 16.0 inch transmission line, which feeds water from the City of Santa Fe’s ten million gallon (10 MG) storage tank to the county’s water system, has been shut down for immediate repairs causing the loss of water for approximately 1200-1500 homes. The line was ruptured by a construction contractor during installation of a new parallel transmission line currently underway by the City of Santa Fe. This parallel line will move additional water to customers of both the City and County water systems. City residents will not be affected by this outage. Affected residents may experience brown or rust colored water after water service resumes. Residents are encourage to flush their lines by running taps inside and outside of their home until the water clears. A Boil Water Advisory may be issued by the County of Santa Fe.

Estimated time frame for return to full service:

• Repair to line break and disinfection completed by 6:00 pm - August 22, 2017
• Samples collected for water quality confirmation - August 22, 2017
• Initial line charging 6:00 pm-1:00 am - August 22 & 23, 2017
• Water may be utilized beginning at 1:00 am August 23, 2017 - water should be at a rolling boil for 1 minute prior to consumption - boil water notice
• Santa Fe County will confirm that water quality achieves drinking water standards in approximately 24 hours, once this occurs the County anticipates rescinding the boil water notice.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Santa Fe County West Sector Customers Urged to Boil Water Prior to Drinking

Santa Fe County Utilities (SFCU) is announcing a precautionary “boil water advisory” for their West Sector water system which serves water to La Tierra, La Mirada, La Mariposa, Las Campanas Estates I & II, La Serena, Tessera, Northwest Ranches, Salva Tierra, Tiera de Oro, Los Suenos, Sonrisa, La Vida and Aldea subdivisions.

SFCU is issuing this precautionary advisory following the break of a 16 inch water transmission line which was damaged earlier this morning and resulted in water service disruption. The transmission line feeds water from the City of Santa Fe’s ten million gallon storage tank to SFCU’s West Sector water system and serves approximately 1500 homes located north of Santa Fe’s City limits.

This advisory applies to the drinking water for SFCU’s West Sector, and does not extend to any other surrounding water systems and is precautionary. No contaminants of concern have been detected.

Consumers of SFCU’s West Sector are advised to boil the water for a full rolling boil for one minute before drinking, cooking, washing fruits and vegetables, feeding a baby, brushing teeth, preparing drinks, making ice, and providing drinking water for pets.
The boil water notice will be lifted once it has been determined that the water lines have been sufficiently disinfected. Notification will be issued upon confirmation.

For more information, please contact SFCU’s Operations Manager, LeRoy Alvarado at (505) 992-9835.