State health investigators have cited the supplier of El Dorado Hills' drinking water for several safety violations that resulted in thousands of residents making a run on bottled water last month.
Operators at an El Dorado Irrigation District water treatment plant mistook a 25-ton delivery of coal fly ash, used in making concrete, for soda ash, an unharmful additive in water purification.
Cloudy water containing toxic metals from the coal ash flowed to 9,000 homes, schools and business for 21 hours on Oct. 18 and 19 before operators discovered the mishap, shut down the plant and flushed the system clean. In the meantime, customers followed the district's advice and switched to bottled water.On Friday, a state health official confirmed the district's assessment that the coal ash did not render the water unsafe to drink.
The ash was added at an automated rate too small for laboratory analysts to detect any trace of hexavalent chromium or other metals, said Carl Lischeske, Northern California regional chief of drinking water safety for the state Department of Health Services. ...
