Julian
Julian residents should avoid drinking tap water for the next few days because their water source may be contaminated with benzene, a county health official said Friday.
A carbon treatment system that removes contaminants from the community’s water supply apparently malfunctioned, which allowed the amount of benzene in the water to rise above acceptable levels, said Gary Stephany, deputy director of Environmental Health Services for the county.
Although benzene, a component of gasoline, can cause cancer, the amount that was discovered in the water source does not pose “an acute or immediate health hazard,” Stephany said.
Nevertheless, the restriction on drinking tap water is a precautionary measure, Stephany said.
Repairs to the system should be completed today, but the 500 residents who live within the water district should not drink the water until it has been retested, Stephany said.
“Even if everything was perfect (today), we wouldn’t have the test results for a couple of days,” Stephany said.
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