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Sewage spill requires signs at Los Jilgueros

In the early hours of Sunday, March 25, the seam broke on an old steel-lined water pipe under Palomino Road behind the Grand Tradition, undermining the sewage line running parallel to it. As a result 141,859 gallons of raw sewage mixed with 500,000 gallons of potable water spilled into a dry creek bed that flowed into the two ponds at the north boundary of Los Jilgueros Preserve.

Although the line was repaired by Monday, March 26, the Fallbrook Public Utility District (FPUD) posted yellow signs warning of water contamination to alert users of the preserve – many of them dog owners whose pets swim in and drink from the water sources.

Jeff Parks, the environmental compliance technician for FPUD, tested the water afterward for total and fecal coliform and enteroccocus, which are “indicators for possible disease producing bacteria, viruses and protozoa, also known as pathogens,” according to the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health.

Coliform bacteria are a natural part of the microbiology of the intestinal tract of warm-blooded mammals, including humans. The bacteria can also be found in soil, other animals and insects. Enteroccocus is a bacteria found in birds. Los Jilgueros is home to coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, mice, reptiles, insects and a diverse collection of birds, including ducks.

“Our tests showed background levels…to be what [we] expected in Los Jilgueros,” Parks said, allaying fears of water pollution as a result of the spill. Although warning signs must be posted for 72 hours, Parks says the signs were removed April 3.

Some preserve “regulars” suspected the warning signs were posted as a result of contamination coming from the Peppertree Park development on the eastern boundary of Los Jilgueros. Sewage contamination from the development is not possible, said Keith Lewinger, general manager of FPUD, because all of the homes are served by sewer. Peppertree Park is a recent development. Lewinger said it’s possible there “may be a problem resulting from home irrigation that could go into the groundwater,” but he knows of no such reports.

Maintenance of water and sewer pipes in a town as old as Fallbrook (founded in the 1800s) is an ongoing problem.

“We are constantly repairing waterlines throughout the community, but it’s costly to repair them before their life expectancy,” says Parks. He says pipes are meant to last 50 years, but the unpredictable does occur.

Parks cited the recent sewage spill in Carlsbad where a pipe “guaranteed” for 50 years broke after 25, and another pipe likely well past its prime broke a seam while most of Fallbrook slept Sunday night, March 25.

 

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