GRAYSON, Calif. — Hundreds of people living in a Stanislaus County town are being told to not drink their tap water. It's a warning that will be in effect for weeks.
Five cases of water arrived on Humberto Guerrero's front porch Wednesday. He will soon be using the bottled water for practically everything from brushing his teeth to drinking.
"It's a bit hard," said Guerrero in Spanish. "Because to wash dishes and wash pans, the water has to be clean."
According to William Wong with the city of Modesto's Utilities Department, the water coming from Guerrero and his neighbors' taps in Grayson is not clean.
“We have a treatment system in Grayson for decades that has been providing clean drinking water for Grayson," said Wong. "However, the equipment now is obsolete."
The acres of farmland that surround Grayson are part of the problem. Officials said that manures and fertilizers often contain nitrates that eventually seep into the groundwater and need to be filtered out before drinking.
"Nitrates is a chemical that can affect some of your own personal body systems," said Wong. "Those most at risk are babies."
At Grayson's water treatment plant, work to replace equipment and bring the community's water up to standards was already underway Wednesday. The plant itself was shut off on Monday.
"We anticipate hopefully being done maybe early June and give ourselves a little leeway to test the equipment," said Wong.
Until then, Brenda Marmolejo and her family will have to live off the 15 gallons of water delivered to her home each week.
"We have containers in our bathrooms so that (the kids) can wash their hands and brush their teeth and all that stuff, and in our kitchen as well," said Marmolejo. "To keep the house running and do things, it takes more time now."
Time is a valuable commodity for a mom of two. Marmolejo and her neighbors are hoping that construction crews will keep that in mind.
"There really isn't much we can do about it," said Marmolejo. "Hopefully, yes, it gets done fast."
Watch more from ABC10: Sounding the alarm: You need to hear this before jumping in the water right now
