Boil water order lifted in Miles City

UPDATE, AUG. 28:

The following is a press release from the City of Miles City:

Our water treatment plant was unable to maintain disinfection on August 20th, 2023. This resulted in water being pumped into the water supply that was not properly disinfected. Due to this event a boil water advisory was issued on August 21st, 2023.

This Boil Water Advisory has been lifted. The city of Miles City public water supply distribution system has been flushed and chlorine residuals have been analyzed in the distribution system to ensure the minimum amount of chlorine residual is present.

Additional Information:

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has advised us that as of 9:00 am, August 28, 2023, The Boil Water Advisory for The City of Miles City and the Custer County Water Sewer District has been lifted and is no longer in effect. Disinfectant residuals have been confirmed and maintained in the distribution systems all week. If you have been using the service in your residence/business (flushing toilets, washing clothes, showering, etc.) there is no need to flush the water lines in the building as normal use will have maintained a disinfection residual in those lines. If you have not been using the service please follow the instructions below.

Household faucets and pipes: Flush your plumbing and pipes. To flush your plumbing, run water through all of your cold water faucets for at least 5 minutes. If your service connection is long or complex (such as in an apartment building) consider flushing for a longer period. Your property manager or landlord should be able to advise you on longer flushing times.

Automatic ice makers: Dump existing ice and flush the water feed lines by making and discarding three batches of ice cubes. Wipe down the ice bin with a disinfectant. If your water feed line to the machine is longer than 20 feet, increase to five batches.

Reverse Osmosis Drinking Water System: Drain your RO storage tank, sanitize the system, and replace the reverse osmosis filters. The filters are disposable and may be contaminated. This especially applies to carbon filters and others that are near the end of their life.

Hot water heater: Run enough water to completely replace at least one full tank of water. Flush the hot water line for a minimum of 15 minutes for a typical household 40-gallon hot-water tank, 30 minutes for an 80- gallon hot water tank or larger.

Water coolers, in line filters, and other appliances with direct water connections: replace water cooler filters and sanitize the system (Follow the manufacturer’s procedure)

Water softeners: Flush your water softening system by initiating the regeneration cycle.

Many RO systems, refrigerator filters and inline filters remove the disinfectant from the water supply and require periodic cleaning of the system downstream from the filter. Please follow the manufacturer’s recommended procedure.

More information can be found at: https://www.espwaterproducts.com/what-to-do-when-boil.../

Thank you for your patience during this event and we apologize for the inconvenience and hardship this has caused the community.

UPDATE, AUG. 24:

Miles City officials recently gave an update on the boil water advisory in the town.

According to the update, the water treatment plant did not maintain microbial disinfection on Aug. 20, leading to the boil water advisory.

The advisory is precautionary as the quality of the water produced at the plant cannot be assured.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has told the City the boil water advisory will be in effect for a minimum of a week.

During the advisory, bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute and let it cool before using.

Crews are flushing water mains in an effort to remove any impacted water from the system and the City says they have also increased monitoring of disinfectant in the distribution system.

Bottled water is being distributed by the City and Custer County DES at the Custer County Fire Department, 200 Haynes Ave. until 1:00 pm Thursday for those who cannot boil their drinking water.

MILES CITY, Mont. - A boil water order is in place for Miles City Monday, Aug. 21.

The City of Miles City said via Facebook the Miles City Public Water System and Custer County Water Sewer District issued the order due to insufficient disinfection at the water treatment plant.

People are told to boil their water before using it--boil tap water at a rolling boil for one minute.

People should use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth and preparing food until further notice.

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