UPDATE: Boil order lifted in McAlester

Adrian O'Hanlon III Editor, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
·1 min read

Feb. 6—UPDATE: A boil order in McAlester was lifted Monday after the city's water samples were within Department of Environmental Quality standards.

The DEQ issued a mandatory boil order in McAlester last week after system-wide loss of pressure from a large water main break.

City officials said crews isolated a large break in a field west of the intersection of Lakeview Road and Waterworks Road near McAlester's water plant.

RAVE alerts Friday morning notified customers of little to no water pressure in McAlester before the mandatory boil order was issued for McAlester and Pittsburg County Rural Water Districts 5, 6, 7, 9 and 16 as the districts purchase their water from McAlester.

The first RAVE alert sent out by the city was at 8:46 a.m. Friday, stating the city of McAlester was experiencing low water pressure to no water. The second alert notifying residents of the mandatory boil order was issued at 11:34 a.m.

Officials said the water tower near U.S. Highway 69 and Hardy Springs Road and the tower at the industrial plant got as low as 1/4 full Friday afternoon.

DEQ updated the order to a precautionary boil advisory over the weekend.

Test results then showed water to be within DEQ standards before the agency lifted the advisory.