A boil advisory for the city of Maxwell was issued Wednesday afternoon and won’t expire until sometime Friday, according to the Story County website.
The advisory was issued after a water main break was discovered on Metcalf Street near Collins-Maxwell High School, said Tony Ness, the Maxwell fire chief.
Matt Cory, a Story County environmental specialist, found the break Wednesday morning when he saw water spilling into the street while dropping his daughter off at the school.
Ness said crews tried to fix the leak without shutting the water off, but discovered that wasn’t an option.
He waited to shut the water off until school was out because shutting off the water forces the schools to end for the day, he said.
To fix it, the city shut off the supply from the city’s water tower around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
With the pressure gone, the system is more susceptible to bacteria.
“If you lose pressure, you pretty much have to put out a boil advisory,” Ness said.
Before the advisory can be lifted, the city has to take two samples of the water 16 hours apart.
With the tower shut off, the water main was fixed Wednesday.