MONROE COUNTY, Tennessee — UPDATE (9 p.m.): Tellico Plains said on social media that after crews found a major water line break and some other problems, repairs have been made and a Water Boil Advisory was lifted for most areas. It was still in effect on Highway 360 and in the Ballplay area, according to a post on social media.
"I know you the customer of Tellico Water understands that these issues are issues that cannot be controlled. I also want to thank the town employees as they worked a continuous 36+ hours to fix these issues," the post said.
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The town of Tellico Plains has issued a Water Boil Advisory after a large line break on Thursday.
Tellico Plains first alerted its water customers after several people were experiencing an outage in the downtown area and down Mecca Pike.
Around Thursday evening, they posted a notice on Facebook stating, "Due to a suspected large line break, water pressure in areas of Tellico Plains system have decreased below minimum standards."
Tellico Plains continued by saying when main pressures are low, bacteria have the potential to enter the water distribution system. They are asking for people to boil water until further notice.
Tellico Plains provided the following steps on how to boil water safely:
- Prior to boiling, the water should be strained through a clean cloth to remove any sediment or floating material
- The water should then be heated to a vigorous boil and the rolling boil should be maintained for one minute to ensure disinfection
They provided an update Friday morning saying that water has been fixed but it will take a while for the tanks to fill up.
In response to the water issues, the Monroe County Schools said its area schools, Tellico Plains Hugh School, Tellico Plains Junior High School and Tellico Plains Elementary School, have adjusted their menus to include prepackaged items and foods that do not require water. They said bottled water have been provided for drinking.
This is a developing story.