WINNSBORO – After Sunday’s winter storm knocked out power to the Winnsboro water reservoir, crews rallied to restore power to the reservoir and refilled the town’s water tanks. On Monday, the Town issued a boil water advisory to all its water customers except Blythewood which was not affected by the power outage at the reservoir.
Later in the day, Winnsboro Mayor John McMeekin told The Voice that he expected the advisory could end as early as Tuesday. But DHEC has continued to uphold the advisory until further notice.
“DHEC’s responsibility, of course, is to protect everybody. I think everything is fine now, the tanks are full and there are no remaining problems with the water, but DHEC has continued the advisory out of an abundance of caution,” Winnsboro Town Manager Jason Taylor said Wednesday morning.
The advisory is specific to Winnsboro water, Mid-County Water, and the Town of Ridgeway water located in Fairfield County. These customers are being advised to vigorously boil their water for at least one full minute prior to drinking or cooking.
Also any residents near the affected areas who have lost water and or water pressure are advised to vigorously boil their water for at least one full minute prior to drinking or cooking. Any ice made from water that has not been boiled should not be used for drinking purposes.
According to Winnsboro Mayor John McMeekin, during the ice storm on Sunday, trees were downed at the reservoir, knocking out the generator.
“This is basically what led to the problems that caused advisory to be issued,” McMeekin said.
“They had to repair the generator, and it’s working now and pumping, but we had to refill the water tanks around town after the repairs,” McMeekin said. “They’re full now, and I think everything is just about cleared up,” he told The Voice on Wednesday. “We’ll make an announcement as soon as DHEC cancels the advisory.”
This story was updated Jan. 19 at 11:08 a.m.
The water hasn’t cleared up yet