ST. MARTINVILLE, La. (KADN) — The entire City of St. Martinville will be without water starting Thursday night. Officials at City Hall said the water will be shut off for all water system customers at 10 p.m. to make emergency repairs.
Work has begun to repair the under ground pipes that were damaged from a drought that St. Martinville has been dealing with for quite some time. The mayor said the water will be shut off for about four hours. Mayor Jason Willis added the lack of rain over the past month has caused roads to crack, which damaged old water pipes underground.
The entire City of St. Martinville will be without water starting Thursday night. Officials at City Hall said the water will be shut off for all water system customers at 10 p.m. The city said it’s because of emergency water repairs. Officials added a boil water advisory will go into effect once they are completed.
It’s something people in St. Martinville have become accustomed to. One resident said in the past three months, she's had to boil her water before every use several times. She added that even with the water problems, her utility bills have skyrocketed.
“It busted the major water line, so this major water line, we’re going to turn off around 10 o’clock,” said Mayor Jason Willis. “The repair will probably last between two to four hours at the most, and immediately after that, we go into a boil advisory.”
"High electricity bills from the water," added Linda Polite. "I think they need to change some of those old pipes and they really need to check on that water problem. Because we are paying a lot here. I live on a fixed income and my light bill two months ago was $1,200, half of it being the water."
Firemen said if a fire sparks during the shutoff, there's enough water on hand to get it put out.
