Entire Eastern Ky. county under boil water advisory after main water line breaks
An entire Eastern Kentucky county was under a boil water advisory on Tuesday after the frigid temperatures gripping much of the region caused multiple breaks throughout the water system.
Martin County, which for years has publicly suffered from water leaks and quality issues for years, was put under a boil water advisory Monday evening after the 14-inch main water line, leading directly from the county’s water treatment facility, burst and caused a leak.
“It’s the main line that feeds everything,” said Craig Miller, the division manager for Alliance Water Resources, the private company appointed to manage the county’s water system. “It was an old repair that appeared to have come loose at some point.”
In about an hour and a half, crews were able to locate the leak and fix it, Miller said. The break did drain the water system’s clear well, which stores millions of gallons of water before it’s pumped throughout the system. Other breaks throughout the system had already lowered the amount of water in the clear well and the main break “essentially drained the tank,” Miller said.
Water has been restored to much of the system which was brought back online overnight, with crews and Miller working until about 3 a.m. on Tuesday. Two areas in the county were still struggling with water-related issues but those should be corrected by the end of day on Tuesday, Miller said.
The break shows the need for a new water system, Lon Lafferty, the county’s judge-executive, told the Mountain Citizen on Monday.
“This just illustrates what I’ve been saying for many years. Our system is antiquated and needs to be fixed from end to end,” Lafferty said to the Martin County paper. “The plan for a new system needs to be laid out. It will take a lot of money, time and quality management to get that done....This crisis illustrates the need for a new system.”
The fact that the water system was able to recover in a matter of hours after a deep freeze is a “win” for the water district, Miller said, noting that in years past it’s taken weeks to recover from such a devastating break. In January 2018, thousands of local residents were without water for a week or more after freezing temperatures compromised the water system. The judge-executive at the time declared a state of emergency.
“I’m feeling very positive because the reality is we recovered quickly,” Miller said. “And then compared to some of these other systems that are struggling more than us, we’re in a lot better shape than we have been in years past and I’m grateful for that.”
Martin County is far from the only place dealing with water issues stemming from freezing temperatures. In neighboring Pike County, over 1,600 customers on the Mountain Water District were put on a boil water advisory on Tuesday, the county’s emergency management office said on Facebook. Frozen and busted pipes have created havoc at local services and businesses throughout Central Kentucky.
The boil water advisory for the approximately 3,400 customers in Martin County should be resolved in the coming days, Miller said. To lift the advisory, the water district has to take a number of bacteria samples to make sure the water lines are “clear of any potential harmful substances.”
Rising temperatures on Tuesday and through the end of the week bring some relief but “it’s also a little bit concerning,” Miller said.
“As everything starts to warm up, anything that is currently frozen could potentially lead to more breaks,” Miller said. “But our staff is being vigilant and they’re prepared for that to happen as well.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 11:56 AM.