NEWBERRY — On Saturday the City of Newberry had a boil water advisory due to a 16 inch main line break near the Shakespeare Plant. The advisory was lifted Sunday evening.
“The leak appears to have been caused by material failure, the 16 inch line developed a split,” said Tim Baker, utility director with the City of Newberry. “DHEC requires us to issue a boil water advisory when there is loss of pressure on our system. This is just an advisory and not a notice. This is done because once system pressure is lost, back siphoning could occur. We have a strong backflow program so this is not likely in our system.”
The advisory was only a precaution, and Baker said residents would likely not have any issues if they had not boiled their water.
“We have been replacing aging infrastructure to prevent this type of issue. In this case, the piping appears to be less than 10 years old so it was not scheduled to be replaced. There is little that could have been done to avoid this particular pipe failure,” Baker said.
The repairs were completed around 4 p.m. on Saturday. Baker said they were required to pull some system samples, which is an 18-24 hour process.
“Following a water main repair, an intense flushing of the distribution system was conducted and bacteriological samples were collected and analyzed by the City of Newberry. The results of this sampling indicate that the system is safe to use for drinking and cooking purposes,” Baker said.
Baker estimated that the repair cost for this main line break would be less than $5,000. However, that does not include the water lost. He further estimates that around 500,000 gallons of water was lost, but it could be more.
“Rough cost $400-600 in wholesale value,” he said.
Should you have any questions concerning this repeal of the Boil Water Advisory, you may call the City of Newberry at 803-321-1018.