ARVIN, CA - State and city officials say the water is safe to drink in Arvin, but some residents there aren't yet convinced. That's why Supervisor Leticia Perez went door to door Wednesday drinking water from the tap.
Arvin is in Supervisor Perez's district.
Until Wednesday, she had not visited Arvin personally to address water woes, but she said she was working behind the scenes to fix the problem the whole time.
Wednesday morning, Perez visited several homes where she drank the water from the faucet.
"Delicious. Very good. Very clean, pure, smooth," said Perez after she drank the water.
This was a declaration Perez said she wanted to make in person, going door to door to show residents the water is safe.
"I've got every assurance, every confidence that this water was good," said Perez.
The water issue came about last Friday morning because the night before a tree blew over in the wind, pulling up the roots and breaking a water main in half.
"At that point, pathogens and bacteria can be introduced into the system and they are so dangerous for consumption," said Perez.
This immediately prompted officials to require residents to boil water before use. Perez said that day she got to work to get tests done on the water.
"It's what I was doing all weekend was pressing the state. They wanted to wait and start it on Monday, and I said 'no people need to drink their water. They need to take a shower and our restaurants have to open so people can work'," said Perez.
Monday, the water was declared safe to drink, but even with Supervisor Perez drinking from her home, Viriviana Cantu is skeptical.
"I am glad she tried it. She didn't have to, but I am still ugh," said Cantu.
Arvin's Mayor also drank the water from the faucet Tuesday.