Department of Health
OLYMPIA – Department of Health (DOH), Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), Tacoma Public Utilities, the City of Everett and partner agencies across the state emphasized on June 18 that drinking water throughout Washington remains clean and safe despite a chlorine supply interruption impacting regional drinking water and wastewater treatment utilities.
“We assure you there is no immediate impact to drinking water in Washington," said Lauren Jenks, MPH, CHES Assistant Secretary, Environmental Public Health. “We will continue to monitor and communicate updates as they happen.”
The chlorine supply disruption is the result of an electrical failure at Westlake Chemical, based in Longview. Westlake supplies chlorine to water and sewer utilities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Northern California. The situation is expected to be resolved within a couple of weeks.
The chlorine shortage does not impact all water and sewer utilities in the state, as some have their own onsite chlorine generators or have enough supply on hand to last several weeks. Based on the latest information, our largest water utilities should have enough supply to last until chlorine supplies resume. Please check your local water utility website for specific information.
DOH is working closely with our local, state and regional partners to proactively respond to this evolving situation. Washington utilities are working together to inventory needs and management approaches across the state.
At this time, there is no specific request of water customers, but we always encourage people to use water wisely. For more information on ways you can help with water conservation visit www.savingwater.org.
DOH is monitoring this situation and will hold a media availability next week to share further updates as needed.
The DOH website is your source for a healthy dose of information. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Sign up for the DOH blog, Public Health Connection.
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