City of Trinidad Urges Residents to Boil Water After Repairing Water Main Leak

Boiling water. Angelsharum, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This is a press release from the City of Trinidad:

https://www.trinidad.ca.gov/water/page/emergency-water-shortage-alert-01-04-2026

Scenic Drive Water Main Leak – REPAIRED:  With help from GRS, Inc., the mainline water leak on Scenic Drive has been repaired and water service restored to all customers affected.

MANDATORY WATER CONSERVATION WILL CONTINUE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.  Please continue to conserve at least 50% or more of your average daily use if possible.  The community will have to work together to help the city’s storage situation improve.

BOIL WATER NOTICE:

https://www.trinidad.ca.gov/media/8401

Due to the significant loss in pressure in several zones of the City’s distribution system, the City of Trinidad is advising residents to only use boiled tap water or bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes as a safety precaution to avoid stomach or intestinal illness, in accordance with State Water Resources Control Board regulations.  This notice will be advised for at least 48 hours from the date of publication, to give the water department time to test and verify the quality of water meets or exceeds state standards, and also to properly flush the distribution system.

This is a precautionary measure, required by state drinking water law when incidents like this occur, to ensure the highest level of public safety.  The City of Trinidad appreciates your cooperation in this matter, and will continue to work tirelessly to restore system quality and reliability.

GOOD NEWS: City water staff worked through the night flushing hydrants in the distribution system as a first step to ensure the safety of your drinking water.  Emergency water samples have been taken throughout the system and are being tested today. The community will be notified immediately upon receipt of adequate sampling results and the notice will be lifted.  We expect to have the results as soon as Monday.  Worst case scenario if any samples come back dirty, the notice will be extended another 24 hours or until the sampling returns are negative for bacterial contaminants (coliform, etc.).

RESTAURANTS: Contact the Humboldt County Health Department for guidance on how boil water notices affect your operation: 707-445-6200.

EXCESSIVE TURBIDITY NOTIFICATION:

https://www.trinidad.ca.gov/media/8406

The rapid loss of water during the Scenic Drive mainline leak on January 03 caused a complete depletion of the City’s 400,000 storage tank facility.  As a result, several zones within the City’s water system distribution system experienced a loss in pressure, or no water service at all.  To recover and re-establish pressure, water department staff had to pull water from the Luffenholtz Creek infiltration gallery during peak flows with extremely high and sustained turbidity (cloudiness).  State of California drinking water regulations require public notification when public water systems violate any water standards.  Although notifications of excessive turbidity do not trigger boil water notices, the loss in pressure noted above does.

Water Tank Production:  With the help of Puryear Water Delivery Service and NorCal Water, four (4) 1600 gallon tanker trucks have been running the pipeline convoy on wheels from the McKinleyville Community Service District filling station to Trinidad’s water storage tanks on Westhaven Drive hourly since noon today.  The City will continue to utilize this service until the storage tank levels are adequate.

Luffenholtz Creek Water Plant Production:  The estimated 400,000 gallons lost in less than 5 hours overnight due to the leak will likely take a full week of round-the-clock production to replenish.  Due to the current weather condition, Luffenholtz Creek’s water turbidity is so high that the water treatment process slows due to the frequent filter backwashing required. Although water service has been restored to customers citywide, it is imperative that conservation measures are preserved until the shortage emergency concludes.

Stay tuned for additional updates.  We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.