Boil water advisory issued for some King William residents

KING WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A boil water advisory has been issued for parts of King William County due to a water main break.

The evening of Tuesday, July 29, King William residents served by the Cedar Crest Water System are under a boil water advisory following a water main break on Pleasant View Drive.

If you are served by this water system, you are strongly advised not to use your tap water without boiling it first.

Impacted residents likely noticed a drop or a total loss of water pressure due to the break. To allow for the water main to be repaired, water service was fully turned off, according to King William Fire & EMS. These repairs were expected to be completed by 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

Even so, because water pressure was lost, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has issued a boil water advisory.

"This precaution is necessary because of the occurrences of zero and/or negative system pressure at the waterworks caused by the leak repair and the possibility that E. coli may have been introduced into the drinking water," the VDH said.

At this time, the county said there is "no current knowledge of any contamination," but residents should abide by the boil water advisory to protect their health.

If you choose to use tap water during the advisory for any purpose -- including for drinking, washing and hygiene purposes -- you should bring it to a full rolling boil, let it boil for one minute and then let it cool before using it.

Those who cannot boil their water can use unscented liquid household bleach with a hypochlorite solution of at least 5.25% to purify their water. You can add eight drops -- or about 1/4th of a teaspoon -- per gallon of water. Stir this in and allow it to stand for at least 30 minutes before using.

Water purification tablets, when used according to the manufacturer's instructions, will also work.

The boil water advisory will be lifted no earlier than Thursday, as the advisory can only be lifted after two water samples taken at certain intervals come back free of contaminants.

For more information, you can contact Gregg Arrington at 804-643-2725 at extension 227, or dial 0 and ask for the water operations department. The county also has an after-hours emergency number, which is 804-257-7773.

This notice was issued by King William officials in partnership with the VDH and Syndor Utilities' Cedar Crest Waterworks.