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LAYTON -- Health investigators now know what led to several people being sickened in Layton -- an illegal connection between the city's drinking and secondary water systems.
Davis County Health Environmental Services Director Delane McGarvey said a woman didn't know a previous homeowner had set up the illegal connection and she opened a valve -- unwittingly allowing the dirty irrigation water to backwash in with the culinary water.
"It can be quite serious for these cross connections, and introducing this into the culinary water," McGarvey said.
Epidemiologists detected a cluster of four giardia cases in the area. The woman's family was among the cases.
"She was extremely sorry," McGarvey said. "It affected her own family."
The complaint was phoned in to Layton city workers on Oct. 5.
Giardia can cause diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain. Health officials couldn't definitively confirm all four cases were linked to the same secondary water.
McGarvey said crews have done extensive testing on the water lines in the area of 2050 East and 200 South. He said the water is now safe.
The cross-connection affected 30 to 40 homes.
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
