We are aware of an issue being experienced by some of our customers that is preventing them from accessing our website.  

This issue, in general, effects users using Windows Vista with Internet Explorer 7, but if you are running any other Operating System such as Windows XP you may also experience this under certain circumstances.

If you are having trouble accessing our website, the most often cause we have found is that your computer does not allow certain features of the site to run or operate correctly due to elevated security settings in your Operating System or Internet browser.

In order for our site to function correctly, it may be necessary to tell your computer to trust our site by adding our URL ( http://www.palmdalewater.org ) to your trusted security zone.

Please follow the steps below to add our site to the trusted security zone: 

1. Open Internet Explorer and attempt to load the PWD web site (http://www.palmdalewater.org). If you are unable to get to the site, you can perform the following steps from any site, you will just have to write in the URL address.

2. Once you have Internet Explorer open, open the "Tools" options on the far right hand side of the window as shown in the image below and choose the last option on the menu that say "Internet Options":

You will then see a dialog box that will look like the following image:

3. Across the top of this dialog box there is a series of tabs that allow you to edit the various settings associated with your Internet Explorer web browser. Please select the second tab from the left that says "Security". the dialog box will change and appear as shown in the next image:

These settings allow you to assign various sites to certain pre-defined security zones and also create custom settings.

*Security Tip* DO NOT edit these settings unless you are certain the site in question is safe and can be trusted. The Palmdale Water District web site is scanned for any possible security issues on a daily basis and is certified secure by McAfee. This is shown by the McAfee Secure seal at the bottom of the page that is updated daily. Look for this seal or others like it when deciding to trust a website.

4. To add the PWD site to the trusted zone, you must first choose the "Trusted Sites" section to edit the list specific to that zone. click on the third icon over, the one that looks like a green check mark labeled "Trusted Sites" as shown in the next image:

5. Once you have chosen the "Trusted Sites" zone, you then click on the button just below it and to the right labeled "Sites".  This will give you the dialog box to add to the trusted zones shown in the next image:

If you were able to load the general PWD site, and are just having issues with the payment processing, you will notice that the site address will likely already be listed in the "add this website to the zone" section of the dialog box.  If it is not, you must add it here. Please type in the full address of http://www.palmdalewater.org into the "add this website to the zone" section if it isn't already there, and choose the button to the right that says "Add".

There is a check box near the bottom of the dialog box that says "Require Server verification (https) for all sites in this zone".  You must uncheck this box to add the PWD site.

6. It is suggested and may be necessary to add the SSL secured site address in order for the site to work as well.  Use the same instructions as above, but enter the address: https://www.palmdalewater.org.  The difference in the address is that it begins with https, instead of the typical http.  This indicates that data sent to the site is encrypted for security.  Any payment or account processing done on the PWD website uses this encryption for your security. 

7. Once you have added the addresses to the "Websites" section, select the "Close" button in the lower right hand corner of the dialog box, then choose "OK" on the "Internet Options" dialog box to apply the changes and close that dialog box returning you to the web page you were on. 

8. After these steps are completed, when you visit the PWD website, you should notice that it is now considered "Trusted" by your Internet Explorer web browser.  This is shown in the lower right hand corner of the browser down by the clock as shown in the image below: 

It may also be necessary to adjust the ActiveX settings in your browser configuration. To do this please follow these instructions:

In the Internet Options window, be sure Trusted Sites is still selected and click Custom Level to open the Security Settings window.

In the ActiveX controls and plug-ins section, select Enable for the following settings:

Download signed ActiveX controls
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe
Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins

Changing these options will allow ActiveX controls to run automatically on all Web sites in your Trusted Sites zone. This zone contains sites that you believe you can download or run files from without worrying about damage to your computer or data. The security level for trusted sites is typically lower than the general Internet or Intranet security level.

Click OK. An alert message will be displayed, asking if you’re sure you want to change the security settings for the zone. Click Yes.
Click OK to close the Internet Options window.

If these steps fail to fix your access issues, it is very likely the result of third party security software on your computer.  Software that can interfere with your accessing our site would typically be your anti-virus, firewall, other other security suites that may be overriding your Internet Explorer settings and preventing access. 

To resolve these issues it is recommended that your contact your software provider.