North Hutchinson Island - Thursday May 11, 2023: Fort Pierce Utilities Authority (FPUA) repaired a main water line break Thursday that was damaged by a landscaping contractor working in the vicinity of Shimonek Lane and the Northern Causeway.
Water service was temporarily impacted, but was restored Thursday afternoon to both St. Lucie County (SLC) water service customers and FPUA water service customers in the affected areas.
FPUA notified SLC of the outage and is issuing a precautionary boil water notice for customers on North Hutchinson Island, served by St. Lucie County, as well as affected FPUA water service customers.
The water outage and boil water notice impacts roughly 830 connections including businesses, single-family homes and condominiums.
The boil water notice issued Thursday afternoon will remain in effect until rescinded. At this time, there is no estimated time frame for when water will be restored, but crews are addressing the issue. Once water is restored, customers will be under a precautionary boil water notice. Those impacted will be under a 72-hour precautionary, boil water advisory for any water used for drinking or cooking. A rolling boil of one minute is sufficient. Bottled water may be used as an alternative.
The affected FPUA water service area extends north of Northern Causeway to Shimonek Lane, and spans just west of North U.S. Highway 1.
For updates to this notice, visit: www.fpua.com or www.facebook.com/teamFPUA.
FPUA recommends that you follow the Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for boiling water listed below:
1. Use bottled water if it is available.
2. If you don't have bottled water, you should boil water to make it safe. Boil the water for one minute, let it cool, and store it in clean containers with covers.
3. If you can't boil water, you can disinfect it using household bleach. Add 1/8 teaspoon (or 8 drops) of regular, unscented, liquid household bleach for each gallon of water, stir it well and let it stand for 30 minutes before you use it. Store disinfected water in clean containers with covers.
For additional information, please visit our website at www.fpua.com or https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/emergency-disinfection-drinking-water.
Due to a main water line break caused by an independent contractor, all St. Lucie County Utility customers on North Hutchinson Island are experiencing a loss of water.
If you have any questions, please contact St. Lucie County Utilities at 772-462-1150.