KELSO STILL UNDER BOIL WATER ORDER

KELSO -- The recent bitterly cold weather froze pipes and water lines in many homes, but it left an entire town in northern Scott County without water this week.

A main water line broke Monday afternoon in Kelso, forcing residents to boil water for at least three days. The precautionary boil-water order is expected to be lifted Saturday, officials said.

Students at St. Augustine Catholic School have been taking their lunches to school all week, said Principal Tom Howard. Cafeteria workers made extra peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for students who forget to bring a lunch, he said.

"We had one boy that even though he remembered his lunch his mom made tuna so he wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich," Howard said.

Since no one can drink from a fountain, every classroom keeps a jug of water and supply of cups. The jugs are refilled each evening by a school secretary who lives outside the city limits.

"You don't realize it until you go to the tap and think, I'd better not do this," said Mayor Georgia Carman.

Although it's been an inconvenience for most residents to boil water, business hasn't slowed at the Kelso Kwik Stop. But no fountain sodas have been sold.

Applegates, a new restaurant in Kelso, has actually seen an increase of business this week, said manager Ken Murphy.

"We work off pumps, so we haven't been affected negatively," Murphy said, adding that he didn't know how the staff would have survived during a boil-water order.

After the water line was repaired late Monday by city officials, a boil order was issued because of a drop in pressure. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources requires that boil orders be issued either when pressure drops or when unsafe water samples are collected.

"Public water supplies are sampled every month for bacteria," said John Hill, an environmental engineer with the Department of Natural Resources in Poplar Bluff. When a health risk is identified by a sample, a boil order is issued until the problem can be found and corrected, he said.

In Kelso, the main line was repaired shortly after it broke but some water pressure was lost, forcing residents to boil any water before drinking or cooking with it.

The length of a boil order can vary depending on the situation, but it can't be lifted until at least two consecutive samples of safe water are collected, Hill said.

The order is necessary when pressure is lost because contaminants can flow back into the lines from another connection such as a garden hose or outdoor hydrant, he said. If there is no pressure in the lines it often creates a vacuum for contaminants to enter the water source, he said.