PINE GROVE - Some Pine Grove residents were without water Friday because of a water main break.
"This is a 14-inch water main. This is the main water main," said Pine Grove Mayor Kimberly Brown-Zerbe as she stood in the back of a parking lot at Sovereign Bank.
Water could be heard gushing from the main about 4:50 p.m. Friday and flowing into the Swatara Creek.
A boil water advisory was issued as of 4:13 p.m. for those on the system, Brown-Zerbe said. It is necessary to boil water until further notice. About 1,000 customers use the water system, and the mayor said "probably 900 at least" were without water at one time. Borough workers and those from Arthur "Pat" Aungst Inc., Pine Grove, were called in to deal with the issue.
As of 5:30 p.m. water service was restored to most customers, said Paul Gantz, borough streets and water committee representative. Council President Larry Dubbs said after 7 p.m. that he did not know how many customers were still without water.
Gantz said it could take 12 hours to fix the leak.
Workers were still on scene as of 8:20 p.m. waiting for a representative from Verizon to identify where the phone lines were located. Other utilities had already responded to the scene by 7:25 p.m.