An order to boil water for Thanksgiving? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

But Dan Haddow, volunteer manager of the Rancho Santa Teresa Mutual Water Co., said the alerts issued to the company -- two this year and two the year before -- aren't the hassle they might seem.

"I don't stop drinking the water," said Haddow, who lives in the 37-home development east of Ramona that is served by the company. "I don't stop using the water for cooking, and making ice cubes, and all kinds of things."

The most recent of the orders, which are prompted by test results that show coliform bacteria is in the water, was issued Nov. 21, a week before Thanksgiving, and lifted Dec.11. Another order issued in July lasted about two weeks.

Under state and federal law, water systems of all sizes must have a state-approved lab test for bacteria and other contaminants. The frequency and number of samples taken depends on the size of the system and the type of contaminant being measured.

Experts say coliform bacteria are ubiquitous and don't make people sick -- but if coliform makes it into a water system it means more threatening bacteria, such as E. coli, could get in, too.

Under the order, any water used for cooking or drinking is to be heated to a rolling boil for three minutes.

Mark McPherson, chief of the county's water quality division, called Rancho Santa Teresa's rate of boil water orders "abnormally high."

"It could mean that they have aging infrastructure and they have issues," McPherson said. "We've been working with them on some long-term plans to do some improvements."

While the state oversees water systems that serve more than 200 connections, individual counties are responsible for smaller systems such as Rancho Santa Teresa. There are 166 small systems in San Diego County, officials said.

So far this year, San Diego County alone has issued 21 boil water orders to small systems, said Ralph Montano of the California Department of Public Health.

Montano said one dozen orders have been issued statewide to large systems, he said.

"Small water systems have less frequent water quality monitoring requirements. However, the criteria for issuing a boil water alert are the same," he said.

The boil water alerts issued in the last year to systems such as Rancho Santa Teresa stand in contrast to larger systems such as Oceanside's.

"We've never issued a boil water order and I've been here 31 years," said Gus Pennell, Oceanside's environmental regulatory compliance officer.

Pennell said that's probably because large departments have more resources than small ones.

While Oceanside's system is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Rancho Santa Teresa has no staff at all -- just Haddow, a resident who retired from another industry and volunteered to handle the housing development's water operations after the previous resident volunteer stepped down.

But size alone doesn't ward off water system problems, as thousands of residents in Rancho Bernardo and other San Diego suburbs learned in 2006 when they became subject to a boil water order prompted by E. coli.

Rancho Santa Teresa has never has an E. coli problem, Haddow said. As for the boil water alerts, he said he understands the county is following state law.

"I think it's much ado about nothing, but that's my opinion," he said.

Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 or cmensching@nctimes.com.