Eagle Mountain residents report illnesses after city switches to alternate water well

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Although Eagle Mountain city officials reassured residents that the water is safe to drink after switching to a different water well last week, Devri Granados and her family are sticking to bottled water.

"I have to keep my family safe. I have got to keep my pet safe. There is no other alternative at this point," Granados said.

Granados, her three children and their dog started feeling ill last week and chalked it up to a possible bug going around.

"We have not been feeling well," she said. "We are having nausea, we are having diarrhea."

She thought nothing of it until she and two of her kids went away for the weekend and left two other family members home.

"For me and my daughters, our stomach issues stopped. When we came back home and started drinking the water in our home again, everything came back," Granados said. "But we have one member of our family who only drinks bottled water, and that is the one person who has not had a single issue with any stomach problems."

Granados started seeing social media posts from other residents who said they started feeling ill around the time Eagle Mountain switched to a different water source.

On Feb. 27, the city switched from well No. 1 to well No. 5 due to maintenance on well No. 1. Bacteria and chlorine residual tests on the water now going out to residents continue to come back clean, according to the city. The city tests the water about 50 times a month.

"The water is clean, safe and healthy to drink. We have received no indication that there is anything outside of the aesthetic differences, and that has no connection to the quality and safety of the drinking water," said Tyler Maffitt, Eagle Mountain city spokesman.

When it comes to the reports of illnesses among residents, city leaders are reminding everyone that it is cold and flu season.

"We want to take and treat those concerns really, really seriously because our residents deserve that from us," Maffitt said.

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality told KSL that Eagle Mountain's level of total dissolved solids is well below the state limit of 2,000 at 834.

"There are no concerns for health impacts and the water is safe for human consumption at this level. Switching annually to alternate water sources that may taste different is very common, but we find it is best for a water system to inform their consumers in advance to help mitigate any concern," said DEQ public information officer Matt McPherson.

DEQ officials said there are no health risks associated with drinking the water based on the latest sampling and testing. They acknowledged different water sources may taste different, but urged residents to contact their health care providers if they're feeling ill.

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