A boil water advisory has been extended until Friday morning for the affected areas.
Crews are having trouble getting to the source of the leak to repair it, and the delay is affecting thousands of customers."This is one of those events in the operation of a water system that you hope never happens," said Bethlehem Water Resources Director Dave Brong.
But it did. A 34-inch main buried 30 feet deep cracked Tuesday morning and utility workers are still digging. They are trying to get to the section of pipe that actually ruptured.
Water officials have been able to reroute water through other transmission lines. But all the commotion within the system resulted in a reduction of water pressure for some 2000 customers in Bethlehem, including five city schools, which had to cancel classes for the day.
It was also enough to kick up an awful lot of sediment. That left people's tap water cloudy at best, murky at worst.
"I took a shower and I looked down and I noticed the water was brown. So I got out pretty quick and didn't even take a shower. My daughter's grandmother lives in Nazareth so I'm going to go there and shower," said resident Jonathan Sherman.
The rupture also likely resulted in a back-flow, which introduces the risk of disease-causing organisms entering the system. For that reason, Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan told Action News he is not taking any chances.
Meantime, local restaurants and convenience stores are struggling. After all, you can't make coffee or fountain soda with brown water.
Workers at the Hello, Burrito Restaurant say they are doing everything they can to keep their doors open.
"We had to come in early and had to start boiling our water as a precaution. We also bought some spring water from a gas station. Basically, we're just hoping it ends quickly so we don't have to keep doing this," said restaurant General Manager Tyler Kushnerick.
To find out if the schools will be open Thursday in Bethlehem, click here.
