Florence issues water boil advisory after systemwide outage

A precautionary water boil advisory has been issued by the town of Florence as a water main break resulted in a system outage.

On Wednesday morning, the water main break near Main and 22nd streets caused an outage that initially affected all areas south of the Gila River, including some Pinal County government offices.

“During a necessary and unscheduled repair of the town’s water distribution system, it was determined a systemwide shut down was necessary because the repair area could not be isolated,” according to a town statement. “The town’s water division made every effort to isolate the repair, attempting to close three separate stages of water isolation valves, but was unsuccessful.”

While town crews have completed repairs and water service has been restored, the work caused a loss of pressure in the system that could have allowed contaminants such as disease-causing organisms to enter the distribution system.

“While these conditions may pose a significant health risk to those served by the system, we are taking all necessary steps to reduce and eliminate these risks and protect the health and safety of those served by the system,” the town stated.

Residents are being advised to:

• Boil water for three minutes before using or use bottled water.
• Use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation until further notice.
• Discard all recently stored water, drinking water or ice that came from the system.

Disease-causing organisms in the water can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches or other symptoms and may pose a health risk to infants, young children, some of the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems, the town stated.

The specific segment of the system that was repaired was disinfected before being put back into service and the town stated it will sample the water for chlorine residuals at multiple locations as pressure is restored.

The town will also test the water to ensure it meets quality standards.

Once all the testing is completed and water quality is verified, the town will lift the precautionary boil water advisory within 48 hours.

Coincidentally, the Florence Town Council on Monday heard a presentation from the public works department explaining what a boil water advisory is, the circumstances that could initiate such an advisory and when it could be lifted.

For information, residents can contact Timm Wainscott at 520-251-2131 or at Timm.wainscott@florenceaz.gov .