Boil water advisory lifted for Cape Girardeau

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) - The city lifted a boil water advisory on Friday afternoon, October 7.

Around 2:30 p.m., the city announced it received clean water sample results.

They said over the span of two days, a total of 40 samples were collected from locations across the city. This process was overseen by Missouri Department of Natural Resources representatives who collected an additional 12 samples for a total of 52 tests, all of which indicated that the water is safe.

According to the city, it is not necessary to flush your pipes or appliances since contamination was not found. If you do want to flush household pipes in an abundance of caution, they said a few minutes of running all household water would be good.

If you notice discolored water or sediments, you should notify the water department at 573-339-6357, ext. 3. They will give you instructions to flush pipes, appliances and replace filters.

Major water main break led to water emergency

The City of Cape Girardeau issued a boil water advisory about 6 p.m. on Monday, October 3 after a major water main broke on private property near Big Bend Road and Bertling Street.

The city was alerted after reports of low pressure started coming in around 4:15 p.m.

At first, the boil water advisory was for about 14,000 customers, but early Tuesday morning it was extended to include all Cape Girardeau water customers within and outside city limits.

The city said a break in a 14-inch water main buried 7 feet underground was the source of the problem. It happened around 4 p.m. on Monday.

Crews worked all night and into the next day to repair the break.

The city also said they had to shutdown the water plant.

City leaders gave an update on the water emergency at noon on Tuesday.

City Manager Dr. Kenneth Haskin, Water Manager Erica Bogenpohl and Fire Chief/EMD Randy Morris spoke at the news conference at City Hall.

City leaders said the water main that broke was 91 years old, first installed in 1931, but Erica Bogenpohl, water manager with Alliance Water Resources, said the dry weather probably had a lot to do with the break.

“All indications point to this being a result of the drought that we are in right now, and that’s kind of a double-edged sword for us. So, not only is the ground dry, which is causing movement, but additionally it’s put a significant strain on the water system itself. So we’ve been putting out high pressures and high volumes of water,” Bogenpohl said.

Crews were able to get the water main fixed Tuesday afternoon and started running the water plant again.

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