Officials announced schools in the Poway Unified School District would open Monday as the city reported progress Sunday in resolving its water contamination.
“We wanted to reassure our families that we are aware of the city of Poway’s boil-water advisory and that we have taken precautions so that our schools located in Poway will remain open on Monday,” the district said in a message sent to residents.
The district said it will provide bottled water to all affected schools, water fountains will be turned off, and any food items requiring water will be prepared off campus.
On Sunday, the city notified residents that staff has isolated the area affected by rainwater from the recent storm. The area was identified as the “clearwell,” a type of storage tank, at the city’s water treatment facility.
“The city continues to test water and has found that the chlorine residuals meet standards,” the city said in a statement on its website at 5 p.m. However, “the city is not able to rescind the precautionary boil-water advisory until the state is satisfied with testing results.”
The city of 50,000 issued a boil water advisory at approximately 6 p.m. Saturday after a day of reports of discolored water.
The county separately issued an order for restaurants and produce shelves at grocery stores to close until the water issue is resolved.
Free distribution of bottled water was set up at Lake Poway on Sunday, and water will also be available on Monday at City Hall. The city also advised residents that boiling water for one minute would be sufficient to kill any harmful bacteria.
City officials are urging residents to either sign up at alertsandiego.org for emergency alerts that are delivered by the County of San Diego via mobile device, or to download the county’s SD Emergency app.
Updated at 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019
