The accidental man-made water-quality crisis that covered much of Gloucester for some 40 hours ended quietly Wednesday morning with notice from the state to the city that tap water taken from multiple locations a day earlier had been tested clean.
For about parts of three days — or, since a contractor working without clear maps slashed a main while trying to complete a replacement for one of the two mains under Stacy Boulevard — the city had been under a boil-water order from the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
"(It's) back to normal," Mayor Carolyn Kirk said at mid-morning Wednesday.
The city had been pumping the anti-bacterial chloramine into the system ever since the break occurred and pressure dropped.
"When pressure goes low and disturbs the system," Kirk said, "our layer of protection is the chloramines."
The city backed off any stepped-up purification methods once the DEP order was lifted, confirming that water samples taken Tuesday had been cleared through DEP's testing.
The DEP lifted the boil-water order covering residential and commercial outlets on the "island" side of the city as of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Though clean of bacterial contaminants, the water continued in some places off color for some time. Users were advised to run the taps for approximately three minutes before resuming normal use.
The DEP order, which didn't apply to West Gloucester or Magnolia, had come after a construction crew replacing a 100-year-old water main beneath Stacy Boulevard early Monday afternoon accidentally struck the new, live main, dropping or shutting down water pressure throughout the city.
Among other things, the boil-water order forced a cancellation of school classes throughout the city on Tuesday.
Schools reopened on schedule Wednesday morning, however, with the city providing bottled water and boxed lunches for students until the city's water supply could be cleared.
J.P. Cardillo & Sons, the contractor, was in the last week of a long-term modernization upgrade of the old mains, which have taken to splitting on their own like Old Faithful about the time the ground freezes.
Richard Gaines can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3464, or at rgaines@gloucesterteims.com.
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