UPDATE Jan. 12, 2016: The city of Sacramento has lifted the voluntary boil water advisory for the Pocket area.
On Sunday, officials found the presence of bacteria and residents were advised to boil water before drinking or cooking. By Monday and Tuesday, water sample results turned up negative for coliform.
Officials say an investigation into the source of the bacteria will continue and there will be an increase in the frequency of water testing in the Pocket Area from one to three times a week.
Original Post: The city says the boil water advisory is just that, an advisory, not a mandatory order. Water tested positive for bacteria at one of four sampling sites along the pipelines that carry water from Sacramento's treatment plant to the Pocket.
"If there was an issue with operation of the plant, we would have seen more positives throughout the distribution system," says Pravani Vandeyar, water quality supervisor with the city. "The localized positives is an indicator that potentially it's the pipe, but we don't know for sure."
Vandeyar says E. coli, a bacterium that can make people sick, was not found. She says the advisory is a safety precaution, particularly for those with compromised immune systems. It could be a few days before the advisory is lifted. Until then, as many as 40,000 people that live in the Pocket neighborhood west of I-5 are asked to boil water for at least a minute before consuming.
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