by Amy Marchiano, originally posted on January 14, 2017

MINERSVILLE — Customers of the Minersville Municipal Water Authority should boil their water until further notice.

The authority issued a boil water advisory earlier this week because of a water main break that took place about 5:30 a.m. Thursday and affects the entire system of 3,200 connections, or about 6,500 people.

“The break was on a Reading Anthracite haul road off of Valley Road in Cass Township. It was a 14 inch main, and because of the large dimension of the pipe and the severity of the break, customers in the outer regions of our system were without water for a short time. Hence the reason for the boil water advisory. If all of our coliform samples come back negative, the boil water will be lifted on Monday,” Melanie Spittler, authority manager, said in an email.

According to a notice posted on the borough’s website, www.minersvilleonline.com, there is an increased chance that the loss of positive water pressure could allow contamination to enter the system.

Customers should not drink the water before boiling it. The notice advises customers to bring all water to a rolling boil, let stand for one minute and cool before using. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and food preparation until notified otherwise, the notice said.

Notification will be made when appropriate. Questions should be directed to the Minersville Municipal Water Authority at 570-544-2200.