Alcester Has Water Back

by Breanna Fuss, Reporter
January 15, 2013 5:33 PM


Things were getting back to normal in Alcester Tuesday night, after five days of tight water restrictions. The city’s main water main broke over the weekend, and residents were only able to use water from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m.

But this afternoon crews fixed the break, and city officials said residents can begin using water.  
 
Earlier Tuesday, the residents of Alcester, the small town treasure, seemed to be treasuring what water they had.

“It's an inconvenience but we are getting by,” said Bob Nyreen, owner of Hillbilly’s in Alcester.

Nyreen said no water during the day made people want to stay home and not go to their local watering hole, making business a little slower than usual.
     
“It defiantly helps, you don't have bathrooms being used constantly,” laughed Nyreen.

But Nyreen said once the water did come back on just in time for the nightly rush, it tended to be a little dirty.
      
“We have to run this back here to get it flushed out clean, then beyond this point it will come out clean to go to the ice machines and elsewhere,” Nyreen said.

He said then it was back to business as usual until 8:30 a.m. when the water was turned back off.

Steve Johannsen, chair of Alcester’s City Council said shutting off water during the day wasn’t an inconvenience he wanted residents to deal with. But he said city officials didn’t have much of a choice.

"In order to fix it, you can't have water running through it,” said Steve Johannsen.

And while crews, worked hard for yet another day, Nyreen, knowing there wasn’t much he could do, made light of the situation.

“So short of melting snow and getting water, we just go down to the grocery store and buy it,” said Nyreen.

City officials said for the next 48 hours residents need to boil all water before they use it for cooking or drinking.