Precautionary boil water advisory lifted for 1,600 customers in Westmoreland County
UPDATE: The boil water advisory was lifted on Thursday.
The previous story is below.
LIGONIER, Pa. (KDKA) -- Around 1,600 water customers in Westmoreland County are currently under a precautionary boil water advisory, according to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County.
On Sunday, due to a water main break, a loss of positive water pressure was detected and as a result, contamination could enter the water distribution system.
The advisory is in place for Ligonier Borough, Laurel Mountain Borough and portions of Ligonier and Fairfield townships. A map of the affected areas can be found below. Everyone who lives or works in the red areas on the attached map need to do two things with their water: boil it and conserve it.
Customers are advised to boil their water before drinking it. Bring the water to a rapid boil for one minute and let it cool or use bottled water. This includes drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and food preparation.
"Because it is under a stream, we have to rebore under the stream and put new pipe under there, and that's gonna take a while, but because our customers have been cooperative and they're conserving water, the system is stable," said Matt Junker, a spokesperson for the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County.
Affected customers can head to a water buffalo located at the Ligonier Borough Municipal Garage at 301 Bunger Street.
Junker says if all goes well, the earliest this boil water advisory could lift is Wednesday after two consecutive clear tests. He says the fact it's such a large pipe and under a stream complicates matters.
"Makes it more intricate," said Junker. "We have to, we don't own boring equipment, so we had to get a contractor to come in and put a new bore under the stream and obtain some large diameter pipe so that once they're done we can install that," he said.
And even once that boil water advisory lifts, they expect people will need to conserve water for a little while longer until that pipe repair is fully complete.
