PWSA precautionary boil water advsory for 18,000 customers to continue to at least Thursday.
The precautionary boil water advisory will continue through at least Thursday for Pittsburgh Water and Sewer authority customers in 19 city North Side neighborhoods plus Reserve and Millvale, a PWSA official said during a joint news conference with Mayor Bill Peduto on Tuesday.
"Frankly, I can’t say at this point with absolute certainty.
At the very latest, we hope it will be Friday, said Bob Weimar, PWSA interim director, who apologized to customers for problems the situation caused for customers.
Officials said the precautions were taken because of tears and deterioration discovered in the cover on the Lanpher reservoir.
Routine water test result on Friday, prompted a closer examination of the water system and the reservoir, but did not indicate a need for a boil water advisory.
His formal report on Monday indicated that there was a tear in the reservoir cover that risked contamination of the water by bird and animal droppings.
Weimar said that now that chlorine levels in the water have stabilized, the DEP requires acceptable water test readings on two consecutive days, at least 12 hours apart before the order can be lifted.
It’s going to take at least a decade to be able to solve the problems within PWSA and it is going to cost billions of dollars.
The mayor’s chief of staff, Kevin Acklin, said the city government’s first indication there would be a boil water advisory came in an email from the DEP at 4:01 p.m. Monday.