Thousands Of Montgomery County Residents Under Boil Water Advisory As Crews Work To Repair Ruptured Water Main
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- A boil water advisory remains in effect in parts of Montgomery County as crews work to repair a ruptured water main. The advisory is in effect for Norristown and Bridgeport, as well as customers in some other nearby municipalities.
Crews began working on the water main break Monday morning and that work continues Tuesday night. Many businesses in the area have been affected, but some are finding ways to stay open.
Crews have been working around-the-clock to repair a water main break at the busy intersection of West Marshall and Markley Streets in Norristown. Thousands of customers are now under a boil water advisory.
"Because that large amount of water that was lost to that water main caused some no pressure, no water pressure events, throughout our Norristown system. That's what prompted us to have to issue a precautionary boil water advisory," said Pennsylvania American Water Director of Communications Laura Martin.
Pennsylvania American Water says the main ruptured Monday morning. A huge area surrounding the break has been affected with no known idea as to exactly how many businesses are being impacted.
"The boil water advisory affects all of our Norristown system, which is about 33,000 customers," Martin said.
The boil water advisory will likely be in place for at least a couple of days as officials say they go through the required process of testing the water to make sure that it's safe.
"As we get service completely restored, then we will be collecting samples. Our regulations require that we collect two consecutive days worth of water samples and submit them to our labs for testing to make sure that water quality wasn't impacted, that there's no harmful bacteria, and then we'll be able to lift the advisory," Martin said.
Businesses like Collegeville Bakery did what they had to do to get their pizzeria and bakery up and running, including using a truck to bring in 6,500 gallons of water to continue operations.
Business owners say they will continue to do this until water service has been restored.
