Town of Culpeper
PRESS RELEASE
The town of Culpeper today lifted the boil water advisory, which had been in place since Tuesday morning following the rupture Monday night of a 12-inch water main.
Town water officials received the final test results this morning from two consecutive water samplings in a 48-hour period showing no harmful bacteria or organisms in the town's water system.
"The test results are good news," said Operations Manager Chris Hively. "We felt confident that the tests would come back negative for contaminants, but as a precautionary measure and to comply with Virginia Department of Health requirements, the boil water notice was required until those tests did come back clear."
The boil water notice covered mainly the south end of town and several areas south of town in the county served by town water. Officials have no estimate on the number of customers affected by the advisory.
The reason for the boil notice was in response to a ruptured 12-inch water main along a section of Blue Ridge Avenue that bisects Southgate Shopping Center. The pipe burst about 7:45 p.m. The pipe failure caused water outages for many customers for several hours. Once on scene, crews were able to isolate the damaged pipe and restore service to all but about 50 nearby residential customers and several businesses.
"We don't know what caused the pipe to rupture," said Hively. "The water pressure inside the pipe was at normal levels, with the pump station and water plant off at the time. Water pressure was coming from the three distribution tanks and was much lower than the pipe's rating."
Officials determined that the ductile iron pipe had been underground since 1977 and no abnormalities were noted in the damaged pipe.
"We are still investigating the cause of the rupture," said Hively.
After the main break, south side residents were advised to boil water before drinking or cooking with it. There was water discoloration experienced in the water in some areas of town. However, officials said that was not unexpected and that it was suitable to wash clothes except maybe white clothes. The system will clear much as it does when the system is flushed periodically.
Wally Bunker
Public Information Officer
Ruptured water pipe repaired on Monday
