On February 6, there was a 16-inch water main break in the 1400 block of 13th Avenue South in Clinton. This had a huge impact on the whole city of Clinton, causing Iowa American Water to establish a boil advisory.

A boil advisory was issued because the water quality was ruined. The water was full of chemicals, dirt and other harmful things to drink. All people of Clinton using city water had to bring any water used for consumption to a rolling boil for one minute before they drink it or cook with it. “You never know how bad you want a cold glass of water until you can’t have one,” said Edward Fritz, resident of Clinton.

During the boil water advisory, Iowa American Water was working to first fix the 16-inch break. It was most likely caused by the extreme weather changes that have been happening recently, which cause the ground to swell and contract, placing excessive pressure on the water mains and causing any weakened pipe to break.

That is not the only thing that Iowa American Water was doing at the time. They also performed a series of tests to determine if the water met all U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Safe Drinking Water Act and Iowa Department of Natural Resources regulations. Multiple samples were taken from numerous sites throughout Clinton, and water quality tests have confirmed that the water met all federal and state requirements.

Since the water met the quality requirements they lifted the boil water advisory. “We had to boil water for two days,” said Fritz. For how much work was needed to fix the break and test the water, Iowa American Water completed the task very quickly. The city of Clinton is sure to be glad that this problem was fixed so quickly, allowing them to drink and cook with clean water once again.