Line ruptures trigger Peabody boil order
Staff writer
Peabody is under a boil advisory after two water lines ruptured Monday — one near Peabody Burns High School and the other near 5th and Chestnut Sts.
“We had a water line break last night, and the water pressure dropped below the pressure threshold,” city clerk Jylle Wilson said Tuesday.
When pressure drops, contamination can occur.
After lines are repaired, water samples will be sent to a laboratory in Salina to be tested for contamination. Additional samples may have to be sent before the state health department notifies the city that water is safe.
Boil notices must be delivered door to door.
Wilson said she printed 450 notices for homes and businesses Tuesday morning. The notices were delivered by 10 middle and high school students who finished the job by 10 a.m.
Peabody’s water tower was drained Monday for routine cleaning of its inside.
Draining started before the first leak was found.
“They are going to start sandblasting the inside of the tower,” Wilson said. “Since it was still draining and weather became cold, sandblasting was put off until Wednesday.”
Maintenance on the tower is expected to last a month.
The lines breaks are not the only recent incidents in Peabody.
In October, Peabody had a boil advisory after a line on 5th St. between Locust and Plum Sts. ruptured. That break was a six-feet-long crack in a six-inch-diameter pipe. Water flowed out like a fountain and completely drained the water tower. Another water line broke two weeks earlier.