TCE scare spurs utility to promote bottled water

Private water utility Arizona American Water Co. advised its nearly 5,000 customers in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley Wednesday to drink bottled water after discovering a malfunction that may have allowed a suspected cancer-causing chemical into their tap water.

It’s the second time in about three months the company has had problems with excess trichloroethylene, or TCE, potentially entering drinking water from the Miller Road Treatment Facility, at Miller Road and McDonald Drive.

GRAPHIC: View map of the area affected by the toxic tap water

Customers of Scottsdale’s municipal water system are unaffected.

“These are two completely different systems and two completely different sources,” said Pat Dodds, city spokesman.

Todd Walker, Arizona American spokesman, said the company is taking samples of water throughout its system to discover the source, extent and severity of the potential contamination. The samples are expected to reveal if the water contains TCE concentrations in excess of federal guidelines, he said.

“Basically, there was a malfunction at the Miller Road Treatment Facility,” he said. “Until we have the results of these samples, we will not know.”

The recommendation to use bottled water for drinking and for food preparation until at least 5 p.m. Friday is a precautionary measure, he said.

“We apologize for any inconvenience,” Walker said.

The company is making bottled water available free of charge to all customers at 6215 N. Cattle Track Road in Scottsdale and at the Paradise Valley Town Hall, 6401 E. Lincoln Dr., he said.

Arizona American initiated automated warning phone calls to its customers soon after discovering the problem Wednesday morning, Walker said.

The company, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, came under fire after a prior TCE scare in November for taking about a month to notify the public after discovering the problem.

EPA officials attributed the delay to equipment problems at the lab testing the water samples.

The EPA in mid-November announced that water containing 9.2 parts per billion of TCE had been introduced into American Water’s drinking water supply after workers at the Miller Road Treatment Facility shut down one of the plant’s towers for inspection and shifted operations to a third, unused tower. The federal maximum for TCE in drinking water is 5 parts per billion.

Arizona American officials said that the tainted water was blended with TCE-free water, lowering TCE concentrations to within federal mandates.