The 2015 County Health Rankings released Wednesday make it look as if Jefferson County has a problem with contaminated drinking water, but further investigation shows this may not necessarily be the case.

The report found that 20 percent of the rural county’s population (4,229 of 21,145 people, according to 2013 census data) obtained water from a system with at least one drinking water violation capable of affecting human health, according to data gathered between fiscal years 2013-14 from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Information System.

Crooked River Ranch Water Company received such a violation in August 2014 for the presence of total coliform bacteria in its water. The water company serves about 4,000 Jefferson County residents. Coliform is a bacteria not itself harmful to healthy humans, but it is an indicator that warrants tests for harmful bacteria such as E. coli. When coliform is found in drinking water, a “maximum contaminant level” violation is issued by the EPA and further testing for E. coli is required.

Crooked River Ranch Water Company found no E. coli in its water supply after the August violation, but the company was required to notify customers of the violation within 30 days. The water company has had a coliform violation every year since 2010, but further tests for E. coli have always come back negative. Crooked River and all other water systems in Jefferson County are currently in good standing with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Frank Day, manager of Crooked River Ranch Water Company, said coliform can show up in water for many reasons. Coliform is widely present in nature. Water sampling equipment may not be properly sterilized before tests are run, he said. Seasons seem to affect test results, too.

“Coliform hits come at a time of year when it’s warmer,” Day said. Samples don’t show the percentage of coliform in the water, “it’s either present or absent.”

Kari Salis is the technical services manager with the Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Program in Portland. She said the water company’s annual violations are not frequent enough to reach the level of formal enforcement, nor are they likely to invoke disciplinary action in the future.

Starting April 1, 2016, the EPA will no longer issue violations or require public notice for the presence of coliform. Public water systems will still be required to test for the presence of coliform, and positive samples must be tested for E. coli. Samples that test positive for both coliform and E. coli must be reported to the state and to customers immediately. If a water system tests positive for coliform but not E. coli, it will be required under the new rule to investigate the source of coliform, but it will not receive a violation like the one issued to Crooked River Ranch in August.

“(Coliform) is more of a red flag, rather than actual contamination,” Salis said Wednesday. “Coliform is a potential pathway (for other pathogens), but coliform wouldn’t make anyone sick.”

Crooked River Ranch Water Company was rated the best-tasting drinking water in 2014 by the Oregon Association of Water Utilities, Day said.

According to the County Health Rankings, 2 percent of Deschutes County residents were potentially exposed to contaminated drinking water — about 3,319 people. Crook County came in at 1 percent, or about 208 people.

The County Health Rankings are conducted every year by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a Princeton, New Jersey, nonprofit that funds health research.

Researchers don’t have a way of excluding coliform violations from their rankings until the revised EPA regulations take effect in 2016, said Amanda Jovaag, data lead for County Health Rankings at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

— Reporter: 541-383-0354,

jrockow@bendbulletin.com