Special to the Item
The Picayune Item
POPLARVILLE —
Damage to a fire hydrant near the Family Dollar store on Mississippi Highway 53 South here caused the city to issue a boil water notice for about 150 water customers.
In a Facebook posting yesterday evening, Poplarville Alderwoman Shirley Wiltshire said water would be turned off at 9 p.m. from the Kangaroo Quick Stop down both sides of Miss. Hwy. 53S to Interstate 59. The area will be under a boil water notice until further notice, at least for the next two days, she posted.
Sam Hale, city maintenance supervisor, said in an update Wednesday morning the affected area is from Family Dollar south to the interstate. Those areas north of Family Dollar, toward to the Kangaroo on Mississippi Highway 26, were safe. City employees last night went to all customers in the affected area with notification of the problem, Hale said.
He said Poplarville High School’s water was safe, but that the 400 wing of the junior high school and the middle school were included in the area under the boil water notice.
Wiltshire had said customers along Shivers Street, the street behind the Sonic Drive-in, were not affected.
Hale said a Coca-Cola delivery truck making a delivery to Family Dollar ran over a fire hydrant Tuesday afternoon in front of Family Dollar.
He said city workers began shutting water off to the affected area about 9 p.m. The main repair was to replace the hydrant and install a new valve. That part of the repair was completed around 12:09 a.m.
The 12-inch line servicing the area is in the process of being flushed, he said, but that it would be Friday at the earliest before test results could be confirmed and the order lifted.
In the boil water alert issued by the Mississippi State Department of Health, customers were reminded about the procedures required in dealing with safe water use:
“When a (water) distribution system loses pressure, contaminants can siphon back into the water. Public health officials consider any system that loses pressure contaminated until tests prove otherwise. Health officials recommend that all water be boiled vigorously for one minute before it is consumed. The water system will be notified when tests show that the water is safe to drink.”
When the notice is lifted, faucets need to be flushed for a total of 10 minutes to introduce system water throughout a building’s plumbing. Flush any faucet a minimum of two minutes to ensure clearing of the line serving the faucet.
“Discard any drinks, ice, food made during the boil water notice; do not use hot water from your water heater for drinking until several exchanges of the tank have occurred; run dishwasher through a cycle or two before washing dishes.”
