Construction accident leads to boil water advisory in Sussex

A construction accident has left much of Sussex under a boil water advisory.

On Tuesday, municipal crews were performing scheduled maintenance on a pipe leading from a residence to the water main when they accidentally struck the main line, the town's chief administrative officer said.

It took a while for crews to isolate the hole in the pipe, which led to a drop in water pressure throughout the system in Ward 1, the old town of Sussex, Scott Hatcher said. The other areas of town are unaffected.

That drop in water pressure is what prompted the advisory.

The immediate area around the break will remain without water until later Tuesday, when a new pipe can be installed. But the advisory is likely to remain in place for a couple of days.

"We'll go through a process to ensure the integrity of the water system, pressure tests and as well potability tests to make sure that there's no contamination in the lines," said Hatcher.

"That process in itself will take approximately three days to complete."

Any issues with low water pressure should be resolved by early Wednesday morning.

For now, the municipality is advising residents to boil all water that will be consumed for at least one minute at a rolling boil.