City of Clinton crews were working into the evening Thursday to fix a water line break that caused water service to be cut off in areas around North Boulevard throughout the day.
A boil water notice was delivered to residents and businesses in northern Clinton Thursday morning following a water line break that cut service off to North Boulevard and caused city crews to spend the entire day tending to needed line repairs. The break was discovered after calls came in to city officials around 7 a.m. from residents complaining of low water pressure.
Crews subsequently discovered the break, and were working much of the day tending to a portion of the line in front of Caring Hands Animal Hospital. By late Thursday afternoon, city manager John Connet said water had been restored to some areas, but not all.
“Water has been restored to the Nathan Dudley Road and Martha Lane areas,” Connet said. “The outage is limited to North Boulevard between the Employment Security Commission and State Employees Credit Union. They are still working on it. They hope to have everything put back together by early evening.”
Once the break was discovered and crews responded, boil water notices were also delivered to residences and businesses in the North Boulevard, Nathan Dudley Road and Martha Lane areas.
“(The) boil water order will be lifted after water is restored and we can test the water,” Connet stated.
That test takes 24 hours, he said.
In the meantime, residents and others in the area were receiving notices that warned of “System Pressure Advisory.” The letter cautioned those experiencing low water pressure in the wake of the break to boil water for consumption.
“The water consumers of the City of Clinton in Sampson County are experiencing periods of low pressure and outages in the distribution system due to a water main break,” the notice stated. “Periods of low or no pressure in the distribution system increases the potential for back siphonage and introduction of bacteria into the water system. The Division of Environmental Health advises that when water is restored consumers boil all water used for human consumption (including drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, making ice and washing hands) or use bottled water.”
Vigorous boiling for one minute should kill any disease-causing organisms that may be present in the water, the notice states. The office also strongly urged water consumers to conserve water whenever possible.
The advisory, issued Thursday, remains in effect until further written notification is issued. Connet said it was not yet known how much water was lost.
“It’s just one of those things that happens,” the city manager said. “Quick changes in temperature tend to expose weaknesses in the line. We hope to have it fixed soon.”
Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 121 or via email at sicrime@heartlandpublications.com.
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