Last boil water advisory lifted for Millersville area after 17 water main breaks in less than 2 weeks.
The last boil water advisory for residents of the Millersville area affected by more than a dozen water main breaks in less than two weeks has been lifted, Lancaster city’s public works department announced Friday.
A series of boil water advisories were issued off-and-on after the first water main break April 16, according to Charlotte Katzenmoyer, director of public works.
In all, there were 17 water main breaks, she said, and each break was repaired within a few hours.
She did not have a cost estimate Friday for the water main break repairs.
And while water mains were being fixed, others broke, prompting repeated boil water advisories in neighborhoods mostly in the Millersville area.
The city was in the design phase of a $10 million to $20 million plan to replace the 45 miles of concrete pipes serviced by the city’s water department with ductile iron ones when the mains began breaking April 16, Katzenmoyer said.
On Friday she said the design plans have shifted so that pipe replacement in the Millersville area can be begin "a lot sooner than other areas" with construction "hopefully … starting later this year."
Concrete pipes are located in over half of the 10 municipalities the City of Lancaster’s Bureau of Water services.
After an advisory is lifted, the water department recommends running the cold water foundation or faucet for two to three minutes, flushing automatic ice makers, draining and refilling hot water heaters set below 115 degrees and running water softener through a regeneration cycle.