On August 19, Washington Water Service (Washington Water), operator of the Doe Bay Water Users Association Water System, issued a precautionary boil water advisory for a portion of Doe Bay customers. The advisory is due to a service line leak that caused a temporary water service interruption or loss of water pressure for some of these customers.

Customers within the yellow shaded area of the map (below) should bring all tap water for drinking, preparing food, making ice, brushing teeth, and washing dishes by hand to a rolling boil for one minute and let cool before using. Tap water is still safe for showering, bathing, and other household uses. Full boil water advisory details are available online at www.wawater.com/doebay8-2020.

Crews are making repairs to the line as quickly as possible. After water service has been restored to customers who experienced an outage, but before they use water indoors, they should run the outside faucet until the water clears. This step prevents discolored water from entering the home and evacuates air from the service line.

“Protecting our customers’ health and safety is our highest priority, and we are issuing this advisory out of an abundance of caution until test results confirm that water quality has not been affected,” said General Manager Matthew Brown. “We thank Doe Bay customers for their patience and cooperation as we work to repair the leak and return water service to normal.”

After repairs are completed, Washington Water will conduct testing to ensure that water quality was not impacted, and will notify customers when it is safe to resume normal water use.

Crews from Washington Water’s main office were on hand Thursday to distribute bottled water to customers who would prefer to use bottled water during this advisory. Affected customers can visit www.wawater.com/doebay8-2020 for updates and information on the bottled water distribution.

Washington Water serves approximately 36,000 customer connections in over 200 water systems throughout the state. One of the largest regulated water utilities in the state, Washington Water (previously as Harbor Water and South Sound Utilities) has provided water service there since 1970. Additional information may be obtained online at www.wawater.com.