Water from the Charleston and Cascilla public water systems has been declared safe to drink, and both utilities' self-imposed, precautionary boil-water alerts have been lifted after being in effect for almost three weeks.
Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith told The Sun-Sentinel in a 2:56 p.m. phone call Tuesday that he had just received confirmation that laboratory testing of Charleston water samples by the Mississippi State Department of Health's Bureau of Public Water Supply found the water to be safe and that the boil-water alert could be lifted.
Cascilla Water Association was notified Sunday, March 7, that their water was safe, according to a notice on the system's Facebook page.
The Charleston Water Department mostly serves about 750 customers in the city and supplies water to 82 metered customers of the East Charleston Water Association.
The city's boil-water alert had been issued by Charleston Mayor Sedrick Smith on the evening of Thursday, Feb. 18. Notice was posted on the MSDH website the following morning. The alert was in place almost 19 days.
Earlier that week, record-low temperatures in the single digits caused some water lines in the city to freeze, pipes to break and other issues to crop up — ultimately leading to a systemwide loss of pressure. Charleston water service had been sporadic since Wednesday, Feb. 17. The city's water flow was partially restored on the morning of Feb. 22 before a burst water main shut it down again. After repairs, full flow was restored that afternoon.
The roughly 800 customers of the Cascilla Water Association were the first in the county to lose water service following a subfreezing night on Monday, Feb. 15. Officials said the system's well motor and pump had failed. A precautionary boil-water alert was put in place.
A temporary well motor and pump were installed and a chlorinator repaired at Cascilla, allowing for the restoration of water service to begin on the night of Tuesday, Feb. 23.
The loss of water for both systems was met with an outpouring of support from government agencies, nonprofit foundations, local elected officials and even private citizens, who donated tens of thousands of bottles of drinking water. One Feb. 22 shipment to Charleston alone consisted of 1,300 cases of bottled water, totaling 41,600 bottles.
The Cascilla, Paynes and Rosebloom volunteer fire departments offered non-potable, undrinkable water for things like flushing toilets at multiple locations in the Cascilla area, as well as in Charleston.
