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Sandy warns residents of water-testing scam

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Elliott Purser, center, and Cody Hook with Sandy City load up cases of water into the trunk of a resident at the Sandy Operations Center at 9150 South, 150 East on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019. The no drink order now applies only to homes and businesses between 1700 East and 2000 East and 10600 South and 11400 South, the city announced Sunday. The city says the problem started about Feb. 6, when a fluoride pump malfunctioned because of a power outage. It flooded the water system with fluoride and that also led to high levels of lead and copper, enough that it made some people sick.

Beware of water-testing scammers, Sandy residents are being warned.

The city tweeted out that warning that it has “had reports of impersonators claiming to be from the Health Department to test water and asking for financial information. This is a scam.”

The Salt Lake County Health Department has offered free lead testing for Sandy residents who believe they may have been affected — but neither the health department nor the city is charging for testing, and neither asks for financial information.

It’s the latest twist in the water woes that have afflicted the city, which was cited by the state Department of Environmental Quality two weeks ago after tests found high levels of lead, copper and fluoride in its water systems. The city council has opened an investigation into both that incident and the city’s response to it; some residents have been up in arms over it; and the city’s Public Utilities director is on paid administrative leave during the investigation.