Boil order issued after water main break in East St. Louis

A water main break on 81st Street in East St. Louis has left around 2,000 metro-east residents on a boil order Friday night.

The boil order is just precautionary, said Karen Cotton, spokesperson for Illinois American Water. The company called everyone who was impacted and sent out a Code Red notification to the customers.

Boil orders usually last about 36-48 hours, Cotton said, and Illinois American Water will call customers again once it’s safe for them to drink their water naturally.

Illinois American Water recommends bringing water to a rolling boil for five minutes before drinking or cooking with the water. It’s OK to bathe and wash in the water.

See the impacted area in more detail in Illinois Ameren Water’s alert.

This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 9:46 PM with the headline "Boil order issued after water main break in East St. Louis."