Nearly 4,000 PWSA customers remain under boil water advisory

About 3,800 Pittsburgh households remained under a boil water advisory Wednesday, a day after a contractor broke a water line while working on Shaler Street in Duquesne Heights.

Nearly 1,000 of those households had no water service.

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority issued an advisory for residents of Crafton Heights, Duquesne Heights, Elliott, Mt. Washington, Ridgemont and Westwood to flush tap water and boil it for at least one minute before using it.

PWSA spokesman Will Pickering said the authority isolated the break Tuesday afternoon and began supplying water to the affected area through other piping, but residents with homes in higher elevations were still without water service on Wednesday.

“We thought that once we isolated the break that everybody would have water by the end of the day yesterday,” he said, adding that PWSA employees were attempting to redirect water from other sources to the areas without water.

The city has placed tanks with fresh water for residents at the following locations:

• Fire Station 27 at 96 Virginia Ave., Mt. Washington.
• Fire Station 30 at 916 Steuben St., Elliott.
• Fire Station 31 at 3000 Chartiers Ave., Sheraden.
• 1717 Hethlon Street, Westwood
• Springfield and Hamburg Street, Ridgemont.

PWSA issued a precautionary advisory because low pressure caused by the break could have permitted contaminants to enter the water. The authority must conduct multiple rounds of testing to confirm that the water is safe from contaminants before lifting the advisory.