Washington Water Authority has issued a boil order notice for the southwest part of its water system around the areas south of Morrow and Evansville, according to a news release Monday.
More specifically, the boil order applies toall areas along North Skylight Road, South Skylight Road, Antioch Road, Dobbs Mountain Road, Hale Mountain Road, Highway 59, and all other roads off the listed roads.
This order was issued for these areas as a precautionary measure because of the possibility that contaminated water may have entered the distribution system as a result of a water storage tank draining below acceptable levels due to increased water demand.
Water used for drinking or food preparation must be boiled briskly for one minute prior to use, according to the news release. All ice cubes should be discarded and only boiled water used for making ice.
The precautionary boil water notice will remain in effect until the problem has been corrected, an adequate disinfectant level is established throughout the distribution system and a bacteriological survey shows that the water is safe to drink.
The boil water order is due to a loss of water in the storage tank and distribution system resulting from a culmination of water system breaks, water customers' plumbing leaks and increased demand due to customers leaving faucets running to prevent individual household plumbing from freezing due to sub-freezing temperatures during the last week.