Erath still under boil advisory; waiting on water test results

On Tuesday, the town of Erath is going to find out if it is no longer under a boil advisory. The answer will depend on if the Board of Health gives the town a passing grade on its nine water samples.
For the last four days Erath residents have had to boil their water if they wanted to use it to drink or cook with. Businesses in the town have also been affected by the boil advisory. If they use town water for cooking, making ice or consumer consumption, they either used bottled water or closed down their deli.
On Monday, samples of Erath water were driven to Amite to begin testing to make sure the water is safe to drink. It is a 24-hour test.
Erath Mayor John Earl LeBlanc said the town will get the results today (Tuesday) but he is not sure if the results will be known in the morning or afternoon.
Until then, he is still instructing everyone not to drink the water unless it is boiled.
Because of the boil advisory, all three schools (Erath High, Erath Middle and Dozier Elementary) in Erath will not be open Tuesday. If Erath gets a passing grade Tuesday, expect all Erath schools to re-open on Wednesday.
The reason the town was under a boil advisory is because a water valve 12 feet under the ground broke.
On Friday, Jessie Frederick, the water plant operator, noticed water had seeped to the surface, which meant one thing - a water line is broken.
Town workers dug up the line and saw water shooting out of the valve of the 8-inch line.
The town turned off the water for all residents around 3 p.m. on Friday. It was back on by 7:30 that night after the valve was changed by a contractor.
LeBlanc said the bolts that secured the valve were rusted, causing the leak.