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South Toledo boil advisory lifted

An electrical malfunction in the High Service Pumping Station at Collins Park Water Treatment Plant resulted in uneven water pressure throughout the system this afternoon, according to Toledo city officials.
(Source: AP Images)

TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - For nearly 24 hours, thousands of Toledo Water customers were on a boil advisory after a sudden drop in water pressure in south Toledo.

But that advisory was lifted Friday after water tests showed there were no contaminants in the water.

The city of Toledo wanted to emphasize Friday  that at no point were residents in danger of drinking contaminated water.

And that the boil advisory was simply an extra precaution to ensure health and safety.

"All water is and has been safe to drink during this period. The boil advisory was issued as a precautionary measure while the tests were being performed," said Ed Moore, Director of Public Utilities.

According Moore a failed circuit breaker caused a pump to shut off or slow down. At the time, only one pump was running at about 10 units of pressure lower than what is standard.

This caused water pressure to fluctuate across Toledo, especially in south Toledo, where one neighborhood got below 20 PSI, which is below EPA standards.

The boundaries of the boil advisory included:

  • South of Arlington Avenue from the Anthony Wayne Trail to Byrne Road
  • East Of Byrne Road from Arlington Avenue to Glanzman Road
  • North of Glanzman from Byrne Road to Detroit Avenue
  • West of Detroit Avenue to Delaware Creek
  • Anthony Wayne Trial from Delaware Creek to Arlington Avenue.

Officials say the malfunction happened at the high service pumping station at Collins Park Water Treatment Plant Thursday. One of the pumps lost its power and the water pressure dropped as a result.

According to EPA procedure, a water sample needs to be taken, then incubated for 18 hours to check for E-Coli and other bacteria growth.

But Toledo decided to issue a boil advisory in advance of the test results, instead of waiting.

"So, our procedure here at the city of Toledo goes above and beyond what the Ohio EPA is doing. So what we said is, we'd rather err on the side of caution," said Moore.

Moore says the Toledo Treatment Plant is currently undergoing 500 million dollars in upgrades.

And now the electrical system has moved up the priority list.

"At some point, all of that circuitry will be replaced. Yeah, these are some pretty old circuits. We're in a process of evaluating each and every one of those circuit breakers now to make sure we don't have any further issues. And ones that we feel are unstable, we'll replace them now." said Moore.

Several schools were affected by the boil advisory including Bowsher High School, Beverly Elementary, Arlington Elementary and Burroughs Elementary. The University of Toledo Medical School was also in the advisory area.

Toledo Public Schools said students and staff received bottled water and hand sanitizer. However, students were expected to report to school.

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