What happened to Coal City’s water

The village of Coal City is under a boil order. Around 6 a.m. this morning—Saturday, Jan. 29—the village was made aware of a water main leak in the area of 600 N. Broadway, more specifically the area of North Street and Circle Drive. Crews immediately got to work. In order to complete the repairs and keep water flowing into most homes, Administrator Matt Fritz said the village’s water department had to isolate the supply to one tower. Repairs on the break took until around 9 p.m. Due to the extensive repair time, the water supply was starting to diminish and resulted in low pressure. Once the repairs were complete, crews were able to turn the other tower back on to ensure water was once again flowing into homes and businesses. Water service had returned as of about 9:30 p.m. Due to the water outage, Fritz said the village is under a boil order until further notice. The hope is for that to be lifted as soon as possible. Under a boil order residents are encouraged to use bottled water or boiled tap water for drinking, in the preparation of food, when making ice or in the brushing of teeth. This includes water for pets. According to the CDC, if using tap water one should bring it to a full rolling boil for one minute and cooled before using. Even filtered water from a tap should be boiled before use. Don not use water from any appliance connected to your water line, such as ice and water from a refrigerator. However, it is safe to wash clothing In most cases hand washing, bathing and showering are acceptable during a boil order. Disposable dishes are suggested, however household dishwashers are generally safe to use. When hand washing its suggested to have a separate basin with 1 teaspoon of bleach where the dishes can be soaked, then rinsed and allowed to air dry before use.