Residents in Sunland Park endure third day without safe drinking water, Utility authority blames plant malfunction - KFOX El Paso

Residents in Sunland Park endure third day without safe drinking water, Utility authority blames plant malfunction | KFOX

SUNLAND PARK, N.M (KFOX14) — Some residents in southern New Mexico were on day three without safe drinking water on Sunday.

KFOX14 spoke with the executive director of the utility that is responsible for the issue.

Brent Westmoreland, executive director for Camino Real Regional Utility Authority told KFOX14 one of the water plants had a malfunction.

“The arsenic plant had one of its chemical pumps continue to run after all the systems and wells were shut down," Westmoreland said.

The malfunction raised the pH level in the water, according to Westmoreland.

CRRUA first received reports of issues with water on Wednesday but waited until Friday to tell resident they should not be drinking or using the water to bathe.

RELATED: Unsafe water in Santa Teresa and Sunland Park: Residents accuse utility of delayed warning

KFOX14 asked Westmoreland, why they waited two days to tell it customers about the issue.

“We had to research the problem to see how extensive it was, and find the source of it and see if it was major or minor. And it turned out to be something that needed to have some restrictions put on usage," Westmoreland said.

During the water distribution Sunday, KFOX14 spoke to Susana Chaparro, the chair of the county commission for Dona Ana County.

Chaparro also serves as the chair for the water utility board.

She told KFOX14 as soon as she became aware of the issue she brought more hands on deck to provide a temporary solution.

“I called an emergency meeting on Friday we came up with a plan of action and we involved not only the county but also the city of Sunland park and CRRUA," Chaparro said.

She added that they would not stop working until the water is safe for all users.

"“We’re taking samples every hour and a half and then disseminating everything not only to Dona Ana county but to CRRUA and Sunland Park," Chaparro said.

RELATED: Santa Teresa and Sunland Park residents continue to endure water crisis: Frustrations rise over delayed fixes and poor communication

Dona Ana County's emergency manager, Stephen Lopez, said they've been trying to provide water to all those who need it.

"Today we’ve given out about 9 pallets so far and are continuing to give it out to anyone in the affected areas that want it," Lopez said.

Lopez added the county and town of Sunland Park gave out a total of over 30 pallets of cases of water bottles throughout the entire weekend.

As of Sunday, there are only two residential areas still being affected by unsafe water.

“We have two residential areas that are impacted that’s villa Valencia and Valencia park and we also have some impact to the Santa Teresa industrial park," Lopez said.

Meantime, Westmoreland said CRRUA is working to ensure an incident like this does not occur again.

“Providing safe drinking water is of utmost priority to us. As well as a reliable wastewater service," Westmoreland said.

Because of the continued issue, some schools in the Gadsden Independent School District are scheduled to have a remote learning day Monday.

For a full list of schools, click here.

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