Update: The boil water advisory was lifted on Monday, after the state Health Department confirmed the water quality was up to state and federal set standards.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News)- When crisis strikes, how people respond says a lot about a community. In Watertown, people are not angry or upset but grateful and appreciative of the quick efforts to keep water flowing.
Around midnight Thursday, a 50-year-old pipe ruptured in the Watertown area causing the town and towns surrounding it to lose their water supply. Thursday night the main pipe was fixed but with a boil water advisory in place, people still needed to pick up potable water.
Thanks to local police, U.S. Army members and volunteers, there were three sites where residents could pick up water bottles or jugs to fulfill their daily tasks like brushing teeth, preparing dinner, and of course drinking water.
At one of the sites, the Watertown fairgrounds, Sergeant Jacob Bull of the Watertown Police Department was around helping direct traffic and monitoring the scene.
“There’s been a lot of community support,” Bull said. “The county has all come together with the city to get volunteer fire departments involved, the United States Army is here helping us out, so there’s a lot of support from the state and federal government to help the city out.”
Bull said the amount of people coming to get water was steadily increasing on Friday morning.