CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Over 40,000 residents are under a boil water advisory.
According to Pennsylvania American Water, early Friday evening there was a loss of positive water pressure due to a main break in the Mechanicsburg system, which also caused a storage tank to drain, leaving some customers without water service and others with limited pressure.
A loss of positive water pressure is a signal of the existence of conditions that could allow contamination to enter the distribution system through back-flow by back pressure or back siphonage.
As a result, 42,000 customers in Pennsylvania's American Water's Mechanicsburg system are under a boil water advisory, including Camp Hill, Lemoyne, New Cumberland, Shiremanstown, West Fairview and Wormleysburg boroughs and East Pennsboro, Hampden, Lower Allen, Silver Spring Townships and portions of Middlesex and Upper Allen Townships in Cumberland County and portions of Fairview and Newberry Townships in York County.
Residents are urged not to drink tap water without boiling it first. Bring all water to a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute and cool before using or use bottled water.
Customers should use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and food preparation until further notice.
Pennsylvania American Water is working to locate the main break and initiate repairs. The company is also collecting and analyzing additional water quality samples including bacteria samples.
Customers who currently have limited water service should follow the provided boil instructions and temporarily limit their water use to essential purposes only. Customers without water service should follow the same boil instructions when their water service returns.
Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms. These organisms include bacteria, viruses and parasites which can cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, diarrhea and associated headaches.
These symptoms, however, are not caused only by organisms in drinking water, but also by other factors. Anyone who experiences any of these symptoms and they persist may want to seek medical advice.
Guardians of infants and young children and people at increased risk, such as pregnant women, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems, should seek advice from their healthcare advisors about drinking this water.
General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1 (800) 426 4791.
Pennsylvania American Water will inform the public when the corrective actions have been completed and residents no longer need to boil their water. For more information contact Pennsylvania American Water’s customer service center at 800-565-7292.
