The boil water advisory in Festus will remain in effect at least until Wednesday, Oct. 26, City Administrator Greg Camp said.
The advisory was issued at about 7 p.m. Oct. 22, after a subcontractor for AT&T damaged a water main on South Mill Avenue, leaving customers without water for much of that day.
Camp said the city’s water must pass testing for contamination twice before the boil water advisory is lifted. The first test for contamination came back negative today, Oct. 25, and the city must get a second negative test before rescinding the advisory.
“It should be sometime Wednesday when the boil water advisory is lifted,” he said.
The Festus R-6 School District did not hold classes Oct. 24 because of the boil advisory, but returned to class today.
Camp said about a million gallons of water were lost after the water main was damaged and before city crews could complete repairs. He said the volume of water gushing out of the main made repairing it difficult.
“The contractor for AT&T, Sunrise Telecom, struck a water main with a boring machine sometime before noon,” Camp said. “I think we got everything back in order by about 8:20 p.m. or just after.”
Until the advisory is lifted, those who live and work in Festus should not consume tap water unless it’s boiled, but people may use it for bathing, washing clothes and other uses, Camp said.
This morning the city gave away free bottled water that H.W. Herrell Distributing in Imperial donated, but the supply went fast.
For more information, go to cityoffestus.org and follow the link to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources page on boil water orders and advisories or go to the department’s website at dnr.mo.gov.