The City of Fairborn is recovering from a water line break that left 2,500 people without reliable service. The cracked section of the line, located on Duncan Street, was replaced on Monday. The city issued a boil order for residents in several areas of the city on the same day, causing many local businesses to close.
The order was lifted yesterday, after water samples came back negative for any bacteria.
The broken line was 40 years old and made of cast iron, which is no longer used to make these kinds of pipes. Fairborn City Utilities Superintendent Director Karen Hawkins says they’re taking steps to update the system, but they’re on a budget.
“We haven’t received any outside funding, but we typically every year have been putting money into start replacement. Unfortunately with more than 60% of our system made up of cast-iron we can only do a small section each year.”
Hawkins said boil-orders on this scale are rare for the city.