Portland Water Bureau issues boil water alert

Laurie Staples bought bottled water for herself and 13 children at the Safeway at NE 122nd and Glisan in Northeast Portland Friday morning.

(Stuart Tomlinson/The Oregonian)

UPDATE: Portland Water now says it will be around 11 a.m. This story has been updated from a previous version that estimated a 10 a.m. return on the samples.

It will be a couple more hours before the 670,000 customers of Portland's water system will find out whether the city will lift the boil-water alert it issued Friday morning.

Test results on samples taken from Portland's water system are expected back around 11 a.m., said Portland Water Bureau spokesman Tim Hall. Officials said Friday that they hope to be able to lift the alert -- provided the samples test negative for coliform and E. coli.

Three samples taken between May 20 and May 23 tested positive for the bacteria, leading the state health authority to direct the city to issue the boil-water notice.

Oregonlive.com will post updates when the test results are available.

-- Helen Jung