Wednesday, July 2, 2008 | 4:50 p.m.
Some 490 hotel guests staying at the Tropicana's Island tower have been moved to other rooms at the Tropicana, the Tropicana-owned Westin property and other Las Vegas hotels after testers at the Southern Nevada Health District discovered that well water serving the hotel tower was tainted with E. coli bacteria.
The hotel tower is unique on the Strip because it is served by private well water rather than municipal water, which serves the Strip and the rest of the Tropicana's property.
The Tropicana shut off water to the hotel tower and found other accommodations for guests after the discovery Monday.
Multiple tests of Las Vegas Valley Water District water and subsequent tests of the Tropicana's well water were negative for E. coli. Additional well tests are under way. If those tests also come back negative the Island Tower is expected to reopen sometime tomorrow. The property will use municipal water to serve the tower once it is reopened rather than the well water, Tropicana spokesman Hud Englehart said.
The Health District tests supplemental water sources about once every two weeks, he said.
The Tropicana is the only property on the Strip that blends their own well water with municipal water, said J.C. Davis, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Valley Water District.
"It looks like they did all the right things proactively," Davis said. "When you're dealing with water, especially (drinking water), better safe than sorry applies."
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