Is Naegleria fowleri found in our drinking water?

• February 16, 2024 |

While the risk of Naegleria fowleri is low given our cold source waters, we understand that it may concern some customers. Medford Water’s first concern is the health and safety of our customers, and we have protective measures in place to prevent Naegleria fowleri and other potential contaminants from surviving in finished water, through disinfection and regularly flushing out portions of our distribution system (to keep water from sitting stagnant for long periods of time). To learn more about our disinfection practices, go to our Water Quality Information page.
 
If you are concerned about Naegleria fowleri, there are additional steps you can take to protect yourself and your family:

• First, it’s important to remember you cannot get infected from drinking water that is contaminated with Naegleria fowleri.Naegleria fowleri infects people when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control advises that if you are making a solution for irrigating, flushing, or rinsing your sinuses (for example, by using a neti pot, sinus rinse bottle or other irrigation device), use water that has been:
  • Previously boiled for 1 minute (at elevations above 6,500 feet, boil for 3 minutes) and left to cool, or
  • Filtered, using a filter with an absolute pore size of 1 micron or smaller, or
  • Purchased with a label specifying that it contains distilled or sterile water. 
• Rinse the irrigation device after each use with water that has been previously boiled, filtered, distilled, or sterilized, then wipe the inside dry or leave the device open to air dry completely.
• To protect yourself from Naegleria fowleri-contaminated water, CDC further recommends:
  • DO NOT allow water to go up your nose or sniff water into your nose when bathing, showering, washing your face, or swimming in small hard plastic/blow-up pools.
  • DO NOT jump into or put your head under bathing water (bathtubs, small hard plastic/blow-up pools)—walk or lower yourself in.
  • DO NOT allow children to play unsupervised with hoses or sprinklers, as they may accidentally squirt water up their nose. Avoid slip-n-slides or other activities where it is difficult to prevent water going up the nose.
  • DO run bath and shower taps and hoses for 5 minutes before use to flush out the pipes. This is most important the first time you use the tap after the water utility raises the disinfectant level.
  • DO keep small hard plastic/blow-up pools clean by emptying, scrubbing, and allowing them to dry after each use.
  • DO use only boiled and cooled, distilled, or sterile water for making sinus rinse solutions for neti pots or performing ritual ablutions.
  • DO keep your swimming pool adequately disinfected before and during use. Adequate disinfection means:
    • Pools: free chlorine at 1-3 parts per million (ppm) and pH of 7.2-7.8
    • Hot tubs/spas: free chlorine at 2-4 parts per million (ppm) or free bromine at 4-6 ppm and pH of 7.2-7.8
• If you need to top off the water in your swimming pool with tap water,
  • DO place the hose directly into the skimmer box and ensure that the filter is running.

DO NOT top off by placing the hose in the body of the pool.