Boil water advisory continues in some Pittsburgh neighborhoods

PITTSBURGH — A precautionary boil water advisory remains in effect for some Pittsburgh neighborhoods after a power outage impacted a pump station over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority announced.

According to PWSA, portions of the following neighborhoods experienced low and no water pressure because of the outage at around 2 a.m. Sunday:

• Bloomfield
• East Liberty
• Friendship
• Garfield
• Highland Park
• Homewood North
• Morningside
• North Point Breeze
• Point Breeze
• Shadyside
• South Oakland
• Swisshelm Park

Water pressure was restored a short time later but, because of the loss, contaminants may have gotten into the drinking water.

The boil water advisory affects a limited area of about 6,117 houses in the above areas.

Water buffaloes are available at the following locations for affected customers:

• Bloomfield: 477 S. Atlantic Avenue
• Highland Park: N. Negley Avenue at Bryant Street
• Morningside: Morningside Avenue at Duffield Street
• North Point Breeze: N. Lang Avenue at Park Lane Drive
• Shadyside: Howe Street at College Street
• South Oakland: Dawson Street at Holmes Place
• Swisshelm Park: Onondago Street, near Swisshelm Playground

Channel 11 stopped by Ritter’s Diner in Bloomfield, which is in the boil water advisory zone, but is doing its part to keep customers safe.

“It’s okay. We’ve managed so far,” said John Velisaris of Ritter’s Diner. “it hasn’t been too much of an inconvenience, although I do have to go do a little more shopping right now.”

Velisaris said the restaurant got the call around 9 a.m. Sunday.

“We just stopped serving any water…all we could do is serve coffee and tea, basically, and milk that we have,” said Velasaris.

Channel 11 spoke with some people inside the diner, who said that wasn’t going to stop them from coming in.

“At home, my wife boils the water anyway,” said Domenic Scoglietti, a regular customer. “Ever since Covid, she’s been boiling the drinking water.”

“The water is fine where I live…me and a friend of mine,” said Bob Walsh of Bloomfield.

PWSA will conduct testing to confirm adequate disinfectant levels and verify that the water is safe to drink.

“The sampling occurs over a 48-hour period. Once we get the results back and they come back clear, then we’re able to lift the advisory over that 48-hour period,” said Rebecca Zito of Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority. “When that power outage occurred, we were not able to feed water into the distribution system, so that is why customers experienced no pressure or low water pressure.”

Customers within the impacted area should do the following before using water for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth, and food preparation until further notice:

• Boil tap water vigorously for at least one minute prior to using it for drinking or cooking (the minute starts when the water begins to bubble). This includes water used for brushing teeth, making ice, washing raw foods, preparation of drinks, and water for pets.
• Wait for the water to cool before using it, or store it in the refrigerator in a clean container.

A searchable map of the impacted area is available here: PWSA Boil Water Area.

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