Boil water, Forest View residents told

The state health department has told customers of a tiny northern El Paso County water district to boil their water after an open valve allowed untreated water into the system.

The boil order, which went into effect Friday, affects the 285 homes in the Forest View Acres Water District located between Monument and Palmer Lake.

“It will probably be Wednesday or Thursday before the boil order is lifted,” said Forest View board president Rich Crocker.

The trouble started Thursday when operators, who were installing new filters at the water treatment plant, accidentally left a valve open, letting water from Lower Monument Creek flow into the district storage tank, Crocker said.

That caused the tank level to rise, setting off alarms Friday morning, Crocker said. Operators closed the valve later that day, he said.

The valve was left open while the former operator trained a new operator, Crocker said.

The district recently switched water operations companies, and the new company will investigate the incident, he said.

Friday morning, the district contacted the state health department and notified residents of the boil order through the district’s Web site, e-mail and fliers distributed door-to-door, Crocker said.

Operators drained the storage tank, then filled it with treated water from a district well, Crocker said. For now, well water continues to be pumped to homes, he said Monday.

The district plans to take water samples from the tank today, and if those samples meet state water standards, the boil order will be lifted, Crocker said.

“I expect we’ll be treating surface water by the end of the week,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Forest View residents have faced water problems.

In May 2007, many homes lost water for a few days when the district’s overloaded water plant stopped working and the pipe that connects the district well to the storage tank sprang a leak. In July 2007, some homes lost water again when a pipe burst under Stone View Road.

Also last year, former bookkeeper Patricia Unger pleaded guilty to embezzling about $300,000 from the district between 1999 and 2004.

Forest View enjoyed a bright moment in February 2007 when its water won a statewide taste-testing competition run by the Colorado Rural Water Association.