Since last Friday, Mountain View resident Mark Tashima has been told by city officials that he can’t drink or otherwise use the tap water in his home in the Cuesta Park neighborhood.
That puts him in the same boat as about 65 other nearby households. On April 24, a city contractor breached a water main at the corner of Bonita Avenue and Cuesta Drive, causing a cement slurry mix to come into contact with the water supply, according to a city news release. Ever since, dozens of homes have been without drinkable water. Currently, only toilet flushing is allowed.
“We’ve been told that it’s hazardous to our health,” Tashima said. “The latest now is that bacteria has been detected — but they haven’t said what kind it is or why it’s bad for us.”
Tashima has been using bottled water for drinking ever since city crews shut off water access on Friday. Two cases sat outside his front door Monday morning.
City spokesperson Lenka Wright told the Mountain View Voice that Friday’s incident occurred during a water main replacement.
“Cement slurry that is used to fill abandoned pipelines was pumped before the piece of pipe to be abandoned was fully disconnected from the live system,” she said.
Initially, the city shut off water access and said it was expected to be back “within a few hours.” Near midnight on Friday, the city issued a “do not use water” notice to affected residents. By Saturday night, officials told residents they could flush their toilets but couldn’t use tap water for any other reason.
“This could last until the end of the week,” Tashima said, adding he might take the city up on its offer to stay in a hotel, mainly to use a shower. Several of Tashima’s neighbors said they are considering the same, given the extended timeline.
Though the city originally anticipated being able to restore safe drinking water for the affected households Friday night, the timeline has been delayed because two of five water samples tested positive for bacteria, according to the news release.
“It’s incredibly inconvenient,” Russell, a Cuesta Park resident who declined to provide his last name, said.
Russell’s family hasn’t been able to do laundry, and he said it took about 30 bottles of water to wash their dishes.
“We can’t really operate without running water,” he said. “It’s kind of unlivable.”
A city contractor breached a water main at the corner of Bonita Avenue and Cuesta Drive in Mountain View, causing a cement slurry mix to come into contact with the water supply. Photo by Zoe Morgan.
By Sunday evening, the city said nearly all the impacted homes had their water turned back on for toilet flushing only. However, the official statement added that residents “should be prepared for being without tap water for drinking, cooking, hand washing, bathing and other domestic uses through mid-to-end of the week.”
On Monday morning, a Mountain View fire truck sat parked on Leona Drive, as fire officials walked around the neighborhood. Several residents noted the fire and police departments had been helpful, including checking in on them and handing out bottled water.
“The city has been pretty on top of it,” Michael, another Cuesta Park resident who also declined to provide his last name, said.
Michael, concerned about bacterial contamination, is one of a handful of residents who opted not to have their water turned back on. For now, he is using buckets to collect water from neighboring homes not impacted by the breach. He and his wife also have been staying in a hotel.
Resources for residents without water
The city has partnered with the following local hotels to provide temporary lodging for impacted residents:
Super 8 Mountain View, 1665 W. El Camino Real, Mountain View
Ramada by Wyndham Mountain View, 55 Fairchild Drive, Mountain View
Days Inn Mountain View, 850 Leong Drive, Mountain View
The Ameswell Hotel, 800 Moffett Blvd., Mountain View
When checking in to any of the hotels, residents must have a valid government-issued photo ID that includes an address matching an impacted household and should notify staff that they are a part of Mountain View’s “temporary lodging program,” the city news release said.
Mountain View water utility crews are continuing to work with regulators from the State Water Resources Control Board to conduct testing on the drinking water and “ensure safe water service is restored as quickly as possible,” the city said.
This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall. Emma Montalbano is an education reporter for the Mountain View Voice.