A major water line broke in downtown Florence Thursday morning — causing water outages and triggering a temporary boil water notice for two days.
The boil water notice was lifted Saturday afternoon.
“Water quality tests have confirmed that the water is safe for all uses, including drinking, cooking and bathing,” a city Facebook post read. “Residents may now resume normal water use. We appreciate your patience and cooperation during this advisory period.”
Florence City Administrator Tamela Lovier said the city was notified of the leak around 5:17 a.m. Thursday. The city’s public works team responded to the site at East Main Street and began repairs immediately. Lovier said the city lost most of the water from its tank and ground storage.
City personnel said the metal pipe on East Main Street had completely failed from the underside.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued the boil water notice Thursday afternoon due to a drop in water system pressure. The pipe was repaired Friday, but precautions remained in place for an additional 24 hours.
Florence’s water infrastructure is aging, and Lovier said the city is working to upgrade it as much as possible.
“We are going to be working on ensuring that we have in place what we need,” Ms. Lovier said. “Of course, it’s very expensive. We know our infrastructure is very old, so right now we're trying to fix as we go, applying for grants, to try to get help with getting the majority of those [projects] done.”
During the emergency, H-E-B donated bottled drinking water to the city, and a distribution center was set up at City Hall Friday morning. The Florence Police Department coordinated the operation until 4 p.m.
The Florence Library was added as a second distribution site later that morning.
Florence ISD canceled its Afternoon Centers on Education and Summer Feeding Program due to the boil notice. However, the Florence Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday event continued on Main Street after the pipe was repaired.
The broken pipe temporarily disrupted the day’s events for residents and businesses. Restaurants like Sailer’s Place and Dwell Coffee said they took necessary precautions Thursday. While the boil water notice was in effect, they prioritized customer safety by filtering the water after boiling it.
Florence Police Chief Wayne Thompson thanked the community Friday afternoon on the department’s Facebook page for its support during the incident — including Vera Bank for allowing use of its parking lot and local businesses for supporting one another.
“I am thankful for all of our city staff who continue to roll up their sleeves and aren’t afraid to work hard and pitch in,” he said. “I am thankful for our emergency management partners who worked with us to get needed supplies on short notice. To our community, who turns out to support local businesses and rallies around them - thank you. So many reasons that Florence is a great place to gather.”