UPDATE: Marion, Kentucky has lifted its boil water advisory on Friday, January 19, according to a Facebook post from the Marion, Kentucky City Hall.
MARION, Ky. — The cold is affecting people in Marion, Ky. An 8-inch water main break resulted in a complete disruption to the city's water supply.
The problem has been largely resolved; the water main was repaired Wednesday night. A city worker went out in the freezing cold to repair it.
The city's water storage tanks were losing significant amounts of water, leading to citywide water outages, until the main water main was repaired. The water was shut off for only a few hours, but the city was still under a boil order as of Thursday evening.
One Marion business says the boil order is having an impact on its operations. Game Day Pizza & Wings in Marion is temporarily using to-go boxes instead of plates. Owner Katie Wheeler said the restaurant is required to serve food this way until orders are cancelled.
Katie Wheeler, owner of Game Day Pizza & Wings.
“We have to go completely without bringing drinks, so you'll see most people in the restaurant have to bring their own drinks. We've been referring them to places like local gas stations and different supermarkets, but they will bring their own drinks Come in. Be understanding,” she said.
Game Day Pizza & Wings uses to-go boxes instead of plates when boil water advisories are in place.
Since the water must be boiled for human consumption, the restaurant cannot wash normal dishes. Wheeler said she was thankful the water main break didn't become more serious.
“We were lucky enough to be closed yesterday because it happened after hours, so I hate for our local community members that they had to go out in the snow and freezing temperatures,” Wheeler said. “It does make it more difficult. , because we got out of the snow earlier this week, so now as we recover and get things back to normal, we still can’t.
Jason Peterson with Paducah Water said freezing temperatures could cause water pipes to burst.
Jason Peterson and Paducah Water.
“If the main line is exposed or shallow and there isn't a lot of flow, we could get something like an internal pipe that physically freezes and ruptures, but that's pretty rare. The other way is if there's a pressure surge, say a power outage or a pumping outage. problem,” Peterson said.
Repairing water pipes in freezing temperatures can also be challenging.
“When it's that cold, when our crews go out, it's muddy, it's cold, sometimes you need to put your hands in 38-degree water to stay warm, and the water is cold,” he said.
Wheeler is grateful someone came to fix the problem. “I think we're lucky because we have a great team leading our county and our city right now,” she said.
