By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department staff have found traces of E. coli bacteria in water running from a cistern fed by a spring near Ohop Lake. The Health Department cautions people not to use water from the spring or cistern, which is located about a mile north of the boat launch on Orville Road. A roadside source of drinking water near Ohop Lake will be removed this month under the direction of health authorities who are concerned about traces of E.coli bacteria in the water. A cistern where the water is pooled for collection sits within Pierce County right-of-way on Orville Road, and county road maintenance crews are scheduled to remove the cistern by the end of January, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department announced last Friday. Because Health Department testing continues to find E.coli, "the water does not meet safe drinking water standards, and people should not use it for drinking or other household purposes," said Brad Harp, manager of the agency's water resources and hazardous waste program. He said the department will send letters explaining the situation to local residents before the cistern's removal. Last November, the county placed signs on temporary barricades around the cistern, warning the public against drinking the water. It's unknown if people have continued to use the water since the warnings, but nearby residents who lack running water at their homes, as well as homeless people, reportedly have used the source for years. Some residents told The Dispatch that they are unhappy with the county's actions. The water apparently comes from a spring or other natural but unofficial and unregulated source. It flows like an open faucet from the end of a system of pipes extending into the cistern from a wooded hillside on Orville Road, next to the lake near Eatonville and about a mile north of the lake's boat launch. Health officials say many strains of the Escherichia coli (its abbreviation is E. coli) are harmless, but some produce a toxin that can cause infections. People who are infected can suffer severe diarrhea, stomach cramps and bloody stools. The symptoms can take as long as nine days to appear, but they typically begin within three or four days, according to officials. People with the symptoms should get medical attention. People most at risk from E.coli are infants, children, pregnant women, elderly seniors and anyone with compromised immune systems. E.coli has been detected in the water for the past year, prompting Health Department to advise the public to find an alternative drinking-water source. The department noted that it has never approved the source for public consumption.
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