UPDATE: The Village of Bellevue has lifted its boil and bottled water advisory.
In a release, the village states the lift comes after samples collected yesterday tested negative.
Residents no longer need to boil water or use bottled water.
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ORIGINAL:
The village of Bellevue has issued a boil and bottled water advisory due to a loss of system pressure in a portion of the village.
According to a release, Bellevue Waterworks experienced a loss of water pressure due to the failure of a piece of equipment within the water system in an area west of Interstate 43 and south of Main Street and Continental Drive.
When the water pressure drops below a certain point in the distribution system, there is a risk of contamination that enters into drinking water.
The Department of Natural Resources required a "boil/bottled water" notice to be issued.
Sara King bought two 24-packs of bottled water and two, big water bottles for her and her roommate.
"It's just mainly going to be inconvenient for, like, drinking and cooking anything," King said.
Kwik Trip's assistant store leader tells NBC 26 that several customers have asked for bottled water.
Plae Bistro, a restaurant in Bellevue, posted signage on their front doors saying it's forced to close until the village says it's OK to reopen.
Dental places need water for their patients, but the boil water advisory isn't having a huge effect at Bellevue Family Dentistry.
"We were using municipal water earlier in the day, and then changed it out to go with the distilled water from our sterilizers," Owner Bob Villwock said.
Villwock said his business has its own water supply.
Each dental unit has bottles attached to them.
"It's just kind of convenient that we happen to have it where, you know, we have the right unit in the right place to deal with something that we probably didn't expect," Villwock said.
Precautions to take
- Discard ice, food and any beverages prepared with unsafe water
- Boil or use commercially bottled water for drinking, food preparation and making ice
- Water should be heated to a rolling boil for at least one minute before use
- Ice should be made from boiled or bottled water
Due to the pressure loss, the advisory notes there may be trapped air and loose sediment in water lines. Air and sediment can be removed by flushing out water systems.
Those that use water filters should not flush water systems through the water filter. The air and sediment may affect the performance of the filter and the filter cartridge should be replaced after the boil water advisory is lifted.
The Village of Bellevue has started taking steps to correct the problem. According to the release, the village has begun flushing the water mains and the storage facilities in the area that lost pressure to remove potentially contaminated water.
Once the process is complete, the village will begin collecting water samples from the distribution system, tested over two consecutive days under the direction of the DNR.
Until the advisory is lifted, the village is recommending people in the affected area should use boiled or bottled water.
NBC 26 will send an update once the advisory has been canceled.
Anyone with questions about the safety of the village's drinking water is asked to call Michael Mahloch with the Village of Bellevue at (920) 593-5503.
