LAURINBURG – Residents in the Hasty community are under a boil water advisory, after a water main bust early Tuesday.
Shortly after midnight, residents lost water completely from McQueen to Crestline Roads.
The incident was one of two that occurred Monday, officials said. On Monday afternoon, residents in the Woodbridge Drive area began reporting issues with water pressure around 4 p.m., according to Stacey McQuage, director of Laurinburg Public Utilities.
The incidents are unrelated, according to McQuage.
“It’s pretty routine to have these occasions; you just don’t usually have two in the same night,” McQuage said.
Around 60 residents were without water until 6 a.m. Tuesday
The outage was caused by a break in an eight-inch waterline near the corner of McQueen Road and US 501 South.
Finding the problem took quite a while due to the size of the area, officials said.
“It was hard to find the problem,” McQuage said. “That’s a pretty long system to ride and look for problems.”
McQuage said it was not necessary to issue a boil water advisory because the water system never lost pressure on the utilities department’s end of operations, but he did so out of caution.
A boil water advisory means customers should “boil all water used for human consumption − including drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation − or use bottled water.”
McQuage said that dishwashers typically get hot enough to kill germs on dishes, and the water is safe to use for bathing and laundry.
He advised that water filtration systems are primarily for taste and do not remove bacteria.
Water should be left at a rolling boil for one minute to kill any germs that could be present.
The advisory is in effect until further notice. The utilities department also requests that users conserve water whenever possible.
Woodbridge
In the Woodbridge Drive area, utility workers temporarily shut off water to the neighborhood to address the issue leaving 30 to 40 residents without water for the evening.
The problem was caused by a break in a six-inch pipe. Water was restored around 11 p.m.
“There was no apparent cause,” McQuage said of both breaks. “Those pipes are in pretty good shape. It could have just been pipe fatigue or [sudden] changes in water pressure.”
Woodbridge residents are not under an advisory because their system was never completely without water.
