by Kathleen Clark, originally posted on September 21, 2016

SCOTTVILLE — Scottville Rural Water customers are under a boil-water order because of a damaged waterline.

Crews doing excavating work for the Dakota Access Pipeline inadvertently hit a main line Monday, causing customers to have no water pressure for about an hour.

“When I got there, they had everything ready for us to fix it with. It was an accident, just kind of inconvenient being right at suppertime,” said Larry Garst, the water plant manager.

The break occurred at the edge of an easement line near a creek and “the line had moved from where it had been marked,” he said.

Garst said the fix will be temporary, because that section of the pipe is scheduled to be replaced in the future to allow for safe water in the event of a spill from the pipeline. Dakota Access Pipeline owners are footing the bill on all of the line upgrades.

Garst is taking precautions by flushing the affected waterlines, but expects the boil order to be lifted by Friday.

Such orders are issued when it is advisable for people to boil their tap water for drinking and other consumption such as cooking, washing hands or brushing teeth. The preventative measures are to protect against any contamination that might have occurred to the water.

Water should be brought to a rolling boil for at least one minute and then allowed to cool before drinking. Once the order is lifted, customers should flush their water lines for several minutes before consuming tap water or using it for cooking.