Dos Palos shutting off water to residents due to emergency algae problem

A water emergency has been declared in the City of Dos Palos after its water treatment plant became clogged with algae, according to the city’s website.

The city said residents should prepare for water service to be turned off for at least three days or more. Due to the algae clog in the city’s water treatment plant filtration system, it is not able to produce treated water faster than it is being used, the city said.

The water outage occurred Monday. The Merced County Health Department, City of Dos Palos Water System and the State Water Resources Control Board/Division of Drinking Water, have advised residents to use only boiled tap water for drinking and cooking purposes to avoid stomach or intestinal illness.

City staff along with state officials, county health and the city engineer are working to restore service. That will include the installation of a temporary filtration system and additives to reduce the algae concentration, according to a news release.

The City of Dos Palos receives raw water via pipeline from the California Aqueduct which is located 18 miles from the city.

According to the city, water with high algae levels takes longer to treat. In order to replenish its storage, the water plant was forced to shut down late nights and early mornings. The city said the plant is not able to produce water faster than it is being used by the public.

The city said that with state assistance, it will install a temporary filtration system in an effort to help process the water.

According to the City of Dos Palos, a similar incident occurred in late 2013 when algae caused water to be shut off for a week..

Due to the shutdown of the plant, the city is required by law to issue a boil water notice.

This story was originally published June 23, 2020 at 11:21 AM.