Fort Pierce Utilities Authority urges customers in St. Lucie to boil tap water before drinking

FORT PIERCE — Because of a temporary power outage, the Fort Pierce Utilities Authority has issued a systemwide precautionary boil water notice effective 7 a.m. Thursday.

That includes 5,800 customers of the St. Lucie County water system that gets its water from the city, said spokeswoman Levette Dixon.

Until further notice, people — at home, schools and businesses — should refrain from drinking the water. Instead they are urged to either use bottled water or boil their water before drinking, she said.

The city has about 20,000 customers.

That includes 15 public schools north of Midway Road but not including Lakewood Park Elementary School. Schools are taping off drinking water fountains and taking bottled water to schools, said school district spokeswoman Janice Karst.

The county's customers, under the boil water notice, are those on North Hutchinson Island, Indian River Estates and Portofino Shores subdivisions and the St. Lucie County International Airport, a county spokesman said.

Not affected are county customers in Holiday Pines, Indrio Crossings and Sampson subdivisions.

"We're not saying the water is unsanitary," said Dixon.

Rather, the notice is issued as a precaution that may last for 24 hours or more, depending on when water tests show that the water meets government standards.

The power outage was short-lived because backup generators turned on, but the water pressure temporarily dropped below the minimums required to make sure the chlorinated water is pure.