A major water main break Sunday in the East End may have contaminated drinking water in eight Pittsburgh neighborhoods — and residents should boil their water as a precaution, according to the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority.
The 20-inch water main break was reported around 7 a.m. and was pinpointed to the intersection of Centre and South Negley avenues around 10:30 a.m., said Will Pickering, communications manager at PWSA.
The boil advisory affects approximately 7,000 homes and is expected to last at least until Tuesday evening, Mr. Pickering said.
“When there is high pressure, there is no opportunity for pathogens to enter the pipe.” PWSA employees are testing the area’s water to ensure it is safe, Mr. Pickering said, and so far all of the tested water has been adequately disinfected.
The earliest that testing could conclude would be Tuesday evening, he said.
PWSA has placed water tanks at the intersections of Centre and South Negley avenues, as well as at Centre and Euclid avenues, he said.
Robert Weimar, PWSA’s interim executive director, apologized for the inconvenience to customers on Sunday and said in a statement that there was no sign of any contamination to the water supply.
"Though our regulations require the precautionary flush and boil water advisory, disinfectant levels in our system have remained stable, and we have not detected the presence of any contaminants," he said.
Those who want to check if they are in the water-outage area can use the interactive map below.
Shelly Bradbury: 412-263-1999, sbradbury@post-gazette.com or follow @ShellyBradbury.