Water boil order in Wakarusa ahead of Memorial Day weekend

WAKARUSA, Ind - Just last night, the town of Wakarusa discovered a large water leak in town.

This leak caused a boil order in the town and resulted in the closure of the splash pad, the stopping of sprinkling of yards, and gardening.

The water boil order has not only affected residents in the area, but also local businesses and certain safeguards have to be taken until further notice.

Crews are out on State Road 19 near the Forest River Plant in Wakarusa, trying to dig up and repair an underground water main that suddenly burst at about 9 p.m. Wednesday night.

The town issued a water boil order, advising everyone to boil their tap water for at least one minute before drinking or cooking with it until further notice.

“This is a nuisance, going to make it a little harder in town for people that have to boil or buy their water," said Jackie Cook, a Wakarusa resident.

Cook acted because of the precautions.

“And I'm on my way to Dollar General to buy some bottled waters, for my own use so anyway, I encourage everyone to go get water from them if you don’t want to boil,” said Cook.

Local businesses were also hit by the water main break. Morgan Berry at Cooks' Pizza on South Elkhart Street says it made their jobs even harder.

“We can't use ice or any fountain drink, so that’s also been a big change,” said Morgan Berry, resident and worker at Cooks Pizza

Not only has the issue affected her job, but also her day-to-day life at home.

“We’re not supposed to get any water in our mouths, like when we shower, we have to be careful, not to get any in our mouth, we have to brush our teeth with bottled water or boiled water,” said Berry.

Tori Schwartz, who works at The Garage Coffee Shop on West Waterford Street, said it's been tough, especially with so much equipment hooked up to town water lines.

“So we tried to do some pour overs cups instead to resolve that, our ice machine is that as well, we went and got some ice from the gas station, so we have some of that as backup to do iced drinks, but we can't steam any milk, we can't essentially make anything from our espresso machine is down,” said Schwartz.

Officials here told us they have to find the water main break, make repairs and then test the water supply for any possible contamination before they lift the boil order.