NEAR NORTH BEND, Wash. — Eighty-two Sallal Water Association customers near North Bend were told not to drink their tap water for several more days after a break-in at one of the association’s water towers.
The FBI has joined the King County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation because of the significance of what happened, a KCSO spokesman said Thursday.
"Literally, the first thing that I did after grabbing some bottled water is putting everything out here."
The warnings went out to 82 homes, including hers, after someone broke into a 158,0000 gallon water tower near North Bend and vandalized the property.
Small white balls, which are now believed to be bio-degradable air-soft gun pellets, were found on the property, he added.
An employee noticed the damage on Wednesday after getting a report that someone was seen coming out of the water tower property, a KCSO spokesman said.
Several samples of the water will be tested to make sure it’s safe, Abbott said.
It could take up to two days to get the test results back, so affected customers were asked not to drink their tap water until at least Saturday morning, he said.
"It kind of makes your preparedness plan a little more real," Pyle told KOMO News.
The Sallal Water Association will post an update on its website when the water test results are back, Abbott said.