PROSPERITY — After issuing a Boil Water Advisory on Jan. 5, the Town of Prosperity advises residents of the Miller Street Apartment Complex, South Main Street and Washington Street areas that they no longer need to boil their water prior to drinking and cooking.

The advisory was put into effect after the old age of the lines and the low temperatures caused the line to break. The lines that were effected were put in place in the late 1930s.

Utilities Director Ed West said that after being sent off to a lab for testing, the results were sent to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, which showed no signs of contamination in the water.

“We had to locate the line, the pipe fractured all the way in the ground due to the cold. We put a repair band around it to take care of the issue, so we didn’t have to cut into the pipe due to the low pressure. We were just following standard procedure for DHEC because we went so low in our pressure supply,” he said.

Repairs for the roads will soon be underway for the effected areas.

West added that the line break could also be a result of aging infrastructure.

“It all comes down to aging infrastructure, it’s been talked about for a while and our country needs to invest more into infrastructure and it’s going to take a big push to do that,” he said.

He added that through working with various agencies, the Utilities Department is able to take a proactive approach when trying to prevent breaks like these from happening in the future.

“We work with various agencies such as Newberry County Water and Sewer Authority and DHEC and we look at each case to see what we can do. A lot of it is finding out what we can control and trying to take a proactive approach. When it gets cold like this it’s a difficult situation,” he said.

West added that the Utilities Department is always looking to upgrade their water and sewer systems, reiterating that they hope to be more proactive in these areas.

Although the advisory has been lifted, West advises those who made ice prior to the advisory to dump the old ice. If anyone has any issues or concerns call 803-364-2622.

By Kelly Duncan

kduncan@newberryobserver.com

Reach Kelly Duncan at 803-768-3123 ext. 1868 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.