Large Section of City Without Water, Schools Closed

A large section of Bethlehem is currently without water service and the Bethlehem Area School District has closed and three elementary schools as a result of a busted water main in the city’s Northeast section.

The city is also recommending that water customers who currently have no service boil their water before consuming or washing dishes with it once the service is restored. At this point, there is no timetable for when service will be restored.

What is coming from taps in the rest of the city might be dirty, but it does not need to be boiled, according to one city water department employee. Nonetheless, the school district is advising parents to send their children to school with bottled water for the next few days.

According to the city’s website, a “critical transmission main in the city’s system was damaged during construction” on Tuesday morning.

“That section of main was taken out of service and repairs are underway,” the notice on the city’s home page says. “We expect to know more by early afternoon today about the repair.”

The school district has meanwhile closed Freemansburg,  and elementary schools because of the lack of service in those neighborhoods.

The district has also been forced to cancel its “Senior Citizens Night at the Theater” event planned for tonight at Liberty High School, which also is without water. The event has been postponed until Saturday, with dinner being served at noon and the show beginning at 2 p.m., according to the district’s website.

The district website said school officials are monitoring the situation and will “make an assessment early in the morning regarding possible school closings.”