UNION COUNTY, Fla. – Students in the Union County School District were sent home early Friday morning after a water main break cut off water service to the city’s schools, homes and businesses.
According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Lake Butler notified the Union County School District Friday morning that schools would not have water for an extended period of the day due to a water line repair. There are more than 2,300 students in the district.
The assistant city manager told News4JAX that a company that was digging to widen the lanes on County Road 231 hit the main water line and caused the outage. The issue has knocked out water to all businesses, homes, all three schools, the hospital, and all city buildings within the limits of Lake Butler.
There was no timeline for when the issue will be fixed. WW Gay has been called in for help and is sending multiple crews.
Students were held at the schools for pickup until noon, after which time students were taken to an off-campus location/reunification site by bus.
Students who aren’t picked up during the day who normally ride a bus will be taken home on their bus as normal. All others will remain at the off-site location for pick-up.
Those who walk home will be brought back to their school to return home in their normal fashion. All other students will need to be picked up from the off-site location no later than 3:30 p.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Teachers and Administrators will remain with students until all students have been picked up or taken home by bus. If you have any questions please contact your child’s school.
Students will be located at:
Sardis Baptist Church
3915 Main St.
Worthington Springs, Florida, 32697
The break happened on SW Sixth Avenue. The city and WW Gay crews were at the site for hours, digging and draining the area to access the damaged pipe.
Jason Furman, the lead operator for Lake Butler’s water and wastewater services, explained the repair process.
“All we can do is put out a boil water notice for the meantime until we can get the water tower turned back on,” Furman said.
The water issue has also affected local events, such as a football fundraiser.
Johnte Nicholas with the Paced Labor 7v7 Youth Football Organization said they couldn’t have certain items like ice and bottled water.
“This ain’t the first time it happened, but it really got to do a lot to do with hygiene,” Nicholas said. “Like, you know, say we need water to wash water. Brush your teeth, wash your hands.”
Porscha Odom added the money they are raising is to help with transportation during the football season.
“We didn’t really raise what we needed and the line being down could have played a part in it,” Odom said.
Furman mentioned that the boil water advisory could remain in effect for about a week.
He expressed his apologies to the residents of Lake Butler, stating, “We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience. We’re working diligently to get this fixed as fast as possible. We will let them know that week when the boil water notice is lifted.”
Currently, WW Gay has ordered the necessary part for the repair, but it is unclear when the break will be fully fixed.
