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Water Back On In Eastpointe; Entire City Still Under Boil Water Advisory

EASTPOINTE (WWJ) - Running water is back in Eastpointe, but a boil water advisory is still in place for the city.

Thousands of homes and businesses in Eastpointe were without water Saturday morning after several water mains broke overnight. Superintendent Tony Pry confirmed around 4:30 p.m. that the north-end of Eastpointe has running water again, and the rest of the city will have water shortly after that.

However, the boil water alert still remains for Eastpointe. Pry said they'll test the water again tomorrow morning, but until then follow the boil water advisory.

"When we tell you to boil the water, boil the water," Pry told WWJ. "A lot of people just like to ignore it. The message has been put out there. Every news station, every radio station, everybody's put it out there. Just please follow it, it's not worth taking the chance."

City officials say a power outage in the area of 8 Mile Road and Gratiot Avenue caused a regulator to malfunction, which triggered several major water main breaks throughout the city.

Pry said the outage originally affected roughly 4,000 homes and businesses along 10 Mile Road between Gratiot and I-94.

The entire city is under a boil water advisory as crews continue to repair the breaks. Pry expects the advisory to last about three days.

"It will be until I get a clean water sample," he said. "I'm not going to jeopardize anybody's drinking water. I need two positive tests of clean drinking water before I can release the boil alert."

Pry said crews are doing everything they can to fix the issues.

"It's past a nightmare. When I've got to get supervisors from other cities to help, it's bad," he said.

Residents in the affected area should bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute, and let it cool before drinking or using for cooking; or use bottled water. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and preparing food.

Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

Stay with WWJ Newsradio 950 and CBSDetroit.com for the latest. 

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