--- description: All tap water used for drinking, tooth brushing, cooking or ice should be boiled for at least one minute until further notice. title: Portland Tells Residents to Boil Water After E. Coli. Found in Tap Water image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [cities](/tag/cities/) ## cities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Portland's E. Coli Scare Has Residents Boiling Tap Water  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 23, 2014 8:08 PM CUT  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 23, 2014 8:08 PM CUT Portland has [issued](http://www.flashalertportland.net/press-releases.html?alert=1 "undefined") a notice advising residents to boil tap water after samples taken from the city’s water system tested positive for the bacteria E. coli. Residents are advised to boil for at least one minute any water used to drink, make ice or cook. “While we believe at this time that the potential health risk is relatively small, we take any contamination seriously and are taking every precaution to protect public health,” Water Bureau Administrator David Shaff said in a statement. “The chance of any health problems related to this water test result is low. If any problems occur, we would expect diarrhea,” said Dr. Paul Lewis, a county health officer. Contamination in the water system can occur due to a loss of water pressure, a broken pipe or any conditions that expose drinking water to the elements, according to a statement from the city. Residents will be informed when it’s ok to use water without boiling it first. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/110962/portland-e-coli-drinking-water/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/110962/portland-e-coli-drinking-water/"},"headline":"Portland's E. Coli Scare Has Residents Boiling Tap Water","datePublished":"2014-05-23T20:08:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:01:51.202Z","description":"All tap water used for drinking, tooth brushing, cooking or ice should be boiled for at least one minute","url":"https://time.com/110962/portland-e-coli-drinking-water/","keywords":["cities","Water","Portland","Bacteria","E. coli"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cities/","name":"cities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/110962/portland-e-coli-drinking-water/","name":"Portland's E. Coli Scare Has Residents Boiling Tap Water"}}]}] ```