The state of Oregon is experiencing a shortage of chlorine, the chemical used to prevent harmful bacteria growth in drinking water.
The shortage occurred after a power outage earlier this month at the main manufacturer of chlorine for Oregon.
Oregon Health Authorty administrator Andre Ourso said state agencies are working on ways to conserve and distribute available chlorine in the state.
Especially since some cities only have a few weeks supply left.
"At this point today we're still in pretty good shape, so I hope that we won't get to a point where a water system will have to issue a boil water notice or start talking about some extreme curtailment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Eugene Water and Electric Board (EWEB) said they use sodium hypochlorite to disinfect their water.
Spokesman Joe Harwood says this assures EWEB customers that the regional chlorine shortage won’t affect their water or fees.
“Because we can produce our own disinfecting agent. And we’ve actually also offered –to the extent we can – to produce sodium hypochlorite for other utilities that may need it. If we get requests, we’re ready and able to assist other utilities.”
Oregon officials say tap water across the state is safe to drink.
The chlorine producer plans to be running again later this month.
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