Boil Water Notice Remains In Effect For Ft. Lauderdale Water Customers
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A boil water notice remains in effect for residents and businesses who get their water from the city of Fort Lauderdale.
In addition to Fort Lauderdale, areas affected include Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Oakland Park, Village of Sea Ranch Lakes, Wilton Manors, sections of Davie and Tamarac, and the Port Everglades Authority.
A short term fix to a water main break allowed the water to flow again late Thursday.
A subcontractor of FPL damaged the 42-inch water main during an overnight repair of electric lines. City leaders said they've cited the company — Florida Communications Concepts Inc out of Palm Beach County.
More than 220,000 customers are impacted.
Workers spent Thursday afternoon building a concrete bunker around the broken pipe that sealed the break.
"Right now, the patch that we worked on yesterday afternoon has held," says Deputy City Manager Rob Hernandez. "It's basically almost a perfect solution."
The city is now working on a long-term solution. The plan is to put in a permanent repair by the end of the weekend and reroute water to the city's main water treatment plant.
For now, everything is looking good.
"Water pressure is almost at near normal conditions. "We're replenishing our stocks at the Fiveash Water Plant," says Hernandez.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said the city plans to seek compensation from the company for its residents and businesses.
The city will continue to hand out bottled water to those who need it at three locations:
Beach Community Center
3351 NE 33rd Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
Mills Pond Park
2201 NW 9th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311
Riverland Park
950 SW 27th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
Broward County also opened a water distribution location at Reverend Samuel Delevoe Park, 2520 NW Sixth Street, from 8am to 7pm Friday.
"It's helpful," says Fort Lauderdale resident Theresa Brown. "I'm brushing my teeth with the bottled water and washing dishes with the bottled water. I'm doing everything they say."
Fort Lauderdale's water distribution centers will remain open Friday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
For those using water out of the tap for drinking, cooking making ice, brushing teeth and washing dishes, bring it to a boil and let it boil for one minute, then let it cool. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.
Many businesses closed Thursday because they had no water. On Las Olas, restaurants closed and so did the Riverside Hotel in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It was nearly sold out then more than 200 rooms had to check out.
"By ten o'clock we realized there was not going to be water pressure for our hotel," said Heiko Dobrikow. "We lost all the room revenue, all of the food and beverage revenue, all of the catering and banquet revenue that we had, so it has a traumatic impact."
The price tag on that is estimated somewhere near $40,000.
Across the street on Las Olas at the Red Door customers were back for lunch after finding it closed Thursday during the midday rush.
"Yesterday we opened, reopened around 3:30 when we got the water back. We thought we were going to lose the whole day but thank God we got to open the place," said Carlos Giordano.
For more information on the water main break and boil water order, you can call the City of Fort Lauderdale 24-Hour Neighbor Service Center at (954) 828-8000.
WHAT'S OPEN AND CLOSED FRIDAY JULY 19:
- The Governmental Center in downtown Fort Lauderdale is open for business as usual.
- The Main Courthouse is open.
- The Broward County Convention Center is open.
- All Broward County Libraries, including the Main Library, are open.
- The Broward Addiction recovery Center and Nancy J. Cotterman Sexual Assault Treatment are open.
The following Broward County Parks remain closed Friday:
- Reverend Samuel Delevoe Memorial Park – CLOSED, but open for bottled water distribution 8AM – 7PM Friday, July 19
- Boulevard Gardens Community Center – CLOSED
- Franklin Park - CLOSED
- Lafayette Hart Park - CLOSED
- Roosevelt Gardens Park – CLOSED
All Broward County Parks closed due to the water main break will be open Saturday except for Delevoe which will be open for water distribution only.
