TOLEDO, Ohio — Almost 18,000 people in Toledo are affected by a water boil advisory in effect until Friday at 5 p.m.
If anyone living in the affected neighborhoods wants to use any tap water, they are advised to flush their line for three minutes with cold, then bring the water that follows to a boil.
The areas under advisory are northwest, Heatherdowns, Oakdale, Glendale, Flanders and East Boundary, the City of Toledo Department of Public Utilities said Wednesday.
Water treatment administrators said the cause was a shutoff pump.
"It was related to some construction activity over at the high service pumping station," Collins Park Water Treatment Plant administrator Andrew McClure said. "Without getting too technical, the security system thought that the pump had lost the water that lubricates it from wearing out too quickly, and as a precaution, shut the pump down."
But, he said the department isn't taking any chances.
"It was an isolated incident," McClure said. "We already know the cause of it, and it's been corrected. It's not an ongoing problem, however, pressure did drop significantly through large parts of the distribution system and we're following through with OEPA-required boil advisories for those areas."
Meanwhile, restaurants in affected neighborhoods like Doc Watson's in Glendale are making do.
"Yeah, it was a little hairy for a second because we weren't sure what all we could do," general manager Carey Willis said.
The restaurant is using gallons of bottled water and ice for drinking, and boiling water for employees to wash their hands. Willis is hoping to hear some good news about the water system soon.
"Until we hear differently from the health department, we're just going to have to keep on doing what we're doing," Willis said. "I was just thinking earlier, our coffee machines are hooked up to water lines, so what are we going to do for breakfast in the morning? I'm sure we'll come up with a solution. We're usually crafty."
The boil advisory is in effect from now until 5 p.m. Friday, unless the department issues an extension.