Editor’s note: The boil water advisory was lifted early Monday morning.
BURLINGTON — Public Works Department officials have extended a citywide boil water advisory into Monday so that water samples can undergo another round of testing.
The initial order was issued Saturday after a water main broke just after 2 p.m. along Pine Street in the city’s South End.
The water advisory, which was originally issued just for the South End, was expanded later in the afternoon to all areas of the city except for buildings around the University of Vermont and the UVM Medical Center, which receive their water through a reservoir system and a series of tanks. Officials said some residences in South Burlington also were affected.
The advisory protocol and map for affected areas can be found here.
In an update on its Facebook page early Sunday morning, the department said:
“We are working hard to lift the advisory but, in accordance with regulations, cannot do so without a round of water samples from throughout the city,” adding that the earliest results would be available is around 4 a.m. Monday.
“Disinfectant residuals throughout the South End (where samples have been taken thus far) indicate normal system conditions, with the risk of bacterial contamination being extremely low,” the update said.
“Once a boil water advisory is issued, it cannot be lifted until bacteriological samples have been taken throughout the area and analyzed to confirm the absence of bacteria in the water supply,” the department said. “These samples unfortunately take time to collect and then incubate (18-24 hours depending on the lab).”
The department said that the lab regularly used by the city would not be able to provide results until midday Monday because of “staffing constraints.” However, officials at the Champlain Water District, which provides service to surrounding Chittenden County communities, “have stepped up to help us get these samples run earlier” so that results could be available “around 3-4 a.m.”
Although test results would not be ready until then, public works officials said, “we are happy to report that thus far the chlorine residuals all look normal, verifying that the risk of contamination is indeed extremely low.”
Megan Moir, director of the department’s water resources division, said during a 5:45 p.m. conference call Saturday that the main break occurred in the area around 339 Pine St. She said the break happened at a point where two pipes fit together and that recent cold weather was likely a factor.
“One can never say for certain but generally cold temperatures do play a role,” Moir said. “If the earth around a very old pipe, which is kind of what’s holding a pipe together, starts to move and shift, that is often when anecdotally, and even I would say empirically, we’ve seen breaks.”
She said at the time that the boil water advisory was a precautionary measure and applies only for water being used for consumption, cooking and washing dishes. Water should be boiled for at least a minute before using. She said the water is safe for showering and bathing.
“This is done because when there’s a lack of pressure in the main, there is a possibility of there being contamination, bacteria, from outside the main entering the system,” Moir said. “This is not because there is a known contaminant or there was an issue of treatment at the plant. This is entirely precautionary due to the large scale depressurization that we had.”
Residents were advised to flush their taps until the water clears and then boil it before using.
Chapin Spencer, the director of Public Works, said the break likely also occurred because the city’s water system is old and needs maintenance. More than 25% of the pipes in the distribution system are more than 100 years old.
The last time the city had to issue a boil water advisory was in July of 2019, which Moir said helped prepare the department for Saturday’s incident, in part because of recent efforts to sign residents up for the alert system.
Chapin said that despite recent repairs to the water system, more work is still needed.
“A vibrant city like Burlington deserves a resilient water system,” he said. “We’re working on it, but this incident today is a very clear demonstration of why we need that investment in our system. Especially given its age.”
