PORT TOWNSEND — City officials are asking 6,000 residential and business customers to boil their water today even though a broken downtown water main was fixed Monday night.
Port Townsend City Manager David Timmons said the 2 p.m. rupture in the 12-inch pipe near Water and Monroe streets caused the state Department of Health to advise all city water users to drink only boiled water or purchase bottled water until further notice.
Timmons said the advisory was a precaution and there was likely no cause for alarm.
“There is no known health risk at this time,” Timmons said.
“But we want to be safe and have people boil water until we get test results back.”
City Public Works Director Ken Clow said the break was repaired around 7 p.m. Monday, restoring water to a four-block area downtown.
The order to boil water was expected to be in effect a minimum of 24 hours, or some time today, Clow said.
Monday’s boil-water order was also endorsed by Jefferson County Public Health, with that department’s director, Jean Baldwin, releasing information about the water issue Monday.
The county closed all food service establishments that use city water because of potential contamination, Baldwin said.
Public Health contacted all establishments individually, advising each of the situation.
