Water warning lifted for Snohomish County

EVERETT — The water warning issued earlier this weekend was lifted ahead of schedule this morning.

Normal water service was restored to everyone, and those who were under advisory to boil water for cooking and hygiene no longer need to do so, officials said.

The warning was in effect because the main drinking water supply for about 80 percent of the county was shut off from about 10 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. today.

The shutoff was related to the construction of a new 6.7-million-gallon reservoir at Everett’s water filtration plant at Spada Reservoir 30 miles east of Everett.

“Our contractor completed the work that required this shutdown and did it early,” Everett spokeswoman Kate Reardon said in an e-mail. “All customers were up and running shortly thereafter.”

Officials originally planned to turn the water back on about 2 p.m. today.

Most people and businesses were expected to have tap water, but under lower pressure than usual.

To make sure there would be enough water pressure for fire hydrants to work properly in case of fire, officials asked customers to conserve water during the shutdown.

People don’t need to limit their use of water anymore.

“It went much better than we expected. Customers did a great job of conserving water,” Snohomish Public Works manager Karen Latimer said.

Many Snohomish businesses affected by the water-boil advisory were frustrated by the warning. Restaurants expected to lose business because they had to stay closed until tap water was safe again.

Fortunately, Alfy’s Pizza on Avenue D was able to open at 11 a.m. as usual, and the restaurant didn’t lose any business.

“I’m glad they just got it over with, but I wish we had gotten a more advance notice,” restaurant supervisor Samantha Gilbert said.

The water supply is scheduled to be shut down again for 24 hours some time in January.

Reporter David Chircop contributed to this report.

Reporter Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452 or kyefimova@heraldnet.com.