The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is warning Pinal County residents who get water from Johnson Utilities to not give it to babies.
ADEQ said the water has high levels of nitrates. They were found in water samples collected on Oct. 27 and Nov. 21. ADEQ warned residents that boiling the water will not remove the nitrates.
Johnson Utilities has not yet been in contact with ADEQ, but they released a statement saying that nitrate levels were far below the allowable limits. And that they “believe the original samples were not correctly performed or read."
Caroline Oppeleman with ADEQ said Johnson may have different data but as of yet, they have not shown it to the agency.
“ADEQ is unable to determine what corrective measures Johnson Utiltiies may be performing at this time," Oppeleman said. "And we are continuing our attempts to contact the company to determine any new test results.”
Oppeleman said it's the responsibility of utility companies to report potential problems to customers early and err on the side of caution.