RELATED: Entire village of South Charleston under boil advisory
EARLIER REPORT, Oct. 10
South Charleston officials say a “significant” water main break caused the entire village to be under a boil advisory for close to 48 hours.
Village Clerk and Fiscal Officer Jessica Hiser said the break happened around Columbus Road, and water to the village was briefly shut off.
On Thursday, Hiser said the break had been fixed but the village was placed on a boil advisory as a precaution.
Water samples were sent out on Thursday, and Hiser was hopeful that the results would be back on Friday — with a clean bill of health.
COMMUNITY: Enon Apple Butter Festival celebrating 40th year this weekend
Hiser said it had been several years since a break had affected the entire village.
“The lines are older, and this is something that just happens on occasion,” she said. “We’re looking into it to hopefully prevent it in the future.”
In response to the advisory, residents were encouraged to boil their water for at least one minute when using it for drinking, brushing teeth or cooking or use bottled water.
Southeastern Local Schools posted information on the district’s website and put out a one call to alert students and parents about precautions the district would be taking.
At both Miami View Elementary and Southeastern Junior/Senior High school, the water fountains were shut off.
But sorry kids — the boil advisory did not mean a day off school.
The Second Harvest Food Bank donated close to 1,000 bottles of water to both buildings for students and staff to drink.
Southeastern Local Director of Student Services Tim Bell said thanks to the food bank’s generosity, the district should have plenty of water to use.
“We plan to do business as usual tomorrow,” Bell said.
When the News-Sun checked to see how the boil advisory was affecting local businesses — the Village Cup coffee shop was actually benefiting.
ICYMI: Old Springfield Road cornfield fire highlights plight of local farmers
“People at home couldn’t make their regular coffee,” said Village Cup/Village Chic owner, Jennifer McKee. “They know about us and like our coffee so they made an extra stop.”
McKee said the coffee shop doesn’t have to worry about making its espresso at the store, because it uses a cold brew espresso that’s made at another location with bottled water. The espresso is part of the cafe’s menu that includes cold, frozen or hot specialty drinks.
The cafe stocked up on bottled water after learning about the boil advisory — about six gallons to make its freshly brewed coffee.
“The village is always very proactive when anything like this happens, and they make sure they try to let everyone know right away,” McKee said.