Fake press release claims Wet n Wild had deadly amoeba, city and park say no

You may have seen this image making the round on social media claiming there was a deadly amoeba living in Wet n Wild, both the city and the park say there’s nothing to worry about

This official-looking image of a press release started circulating social media Saturday night, claiming someone had died from an amoeba caught at Wet n Wild, but when we showed up to ask the answer was curt.

“No, it was absolutely not real,” said Chandra Edwards-Cottingham, the general manager and a co-owner.

The city also responded to the use of their letterhead, saying, in part:

“This press release that attempts to appear as a message from the Department of Public Health is fake and is not an official message from the City of El Paso. There is no current health notice from the Department of Public Health on this type of topic.”

The water park itself was crowded Sunday, people still turning out, and the purification systems still running.

“If the chlorine levels and the pH levels are good, and you do do the very high levels of chlorination every once in a while, that keeps your water very clean and safe,” Edwards-Cottingham said.

Wet n WIld telling while they wouldn’t normally test for organisms, they would welcome a test if concerns were brought over, even if they say it would be difficult for microorganisms to survive in the park.

“The El Paso County Health Department is always welcome to come do tests of the water, of course…filtering it constantly and having a good turnover rate, that’s also important to filtering organisms like that out of the water,” said Edwards-Cottingham.

Now the city is also announcing and reminding the public unauthorized use of the city seal, letterheads, and other communication materials is not allowed.