Advisory lifted: Ventura officials confirm water is safe following false contamination test

Tap water false alarm messes with Thanksgiving plans

Ventura city officials are backtracking their "do not use" water warning, leaving residents confused and frustrated.

VENTURA, Calif. - An urgent advisory for residents in Ventura's Pierpont neighborhood was lifted Wednesday after officials said no gasoline was detected in the drinking supply, according to the Ventura Police Department.

What we know:

Ventura city officials are backtracking their "do not use" water warning, issued last night, when a "false positive" reading incorrectly came back with trace amounts of gasoline in the water supply in the Pierpont area, just west of the 101 freeway at Seaward Avenue.

Total petroleum hydrocarbons were reportedly detected in the water supply near Harbor Boulevard and Monmouth Way, officials said on Tuesday, prompting the "Do Not Use" Advisory for residents in the area.

The reading came from ongoing monitoring near a gas station, where last year, a gas leak resulted in gasoline-tainted water. Reacting to the incorrect reading, city officials set up locations for residents to pick up bottled water. 

Local perspective:

Many area businesses closed down, and several hotels in the area started canceling reservations. Quite a few residents moved their Thanksgiving celebrations, with others trying to plan around not being able to use tap water at all.

"Yesterday's report of gasoline contamination in the Pierpont area water supply was caused by a false positive during routine testing," police said in a statement posted on the city's website. "Follow-up testing on multiple additional samples has confirmed that your water is safe. There is no contamination and it is safe to drink, cook with, bathe in, and use for handwashing."

The advisory was lifted on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. Shortly after noon today, many residents' phones did go off with an update: that the "do not use" water advisory was lifted. The water is fine, say city officials, explaining it was a false positive reading.

The biggest concern came from the many people who told us they had not gotten the phone warnings they expected from VC Alert yesterday. City officials explained they did have some issues with the VC Alert system, but that they started putting out social media warnings on Facebook, for example.

While the city says they are looking into the whole situation, residents are telling us they are glad the water is fine. Although some expressed distrust for the warning, saying that the area where there was a leak last year has been blocked off with fences and trucks for a year now. 

"We haven't seen real progress," says one resident, adding, "Who's to know if the water had issues before, and we just didn't know it?"

What's next:

Further details were not released. FOX 11 reached out to the City of Ventura, who doubled down that the water is fine.