Boil water order lifted in Miles City

Aug 15, 2023

MILS CITY - The boil water order issued for Miles City residents on Aug. 21 after authorities discovered inadequate disinfectant in the city's water treatment plant was lifted Monday morning.

According to a notice from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the boil order was officially lifted at 9 a.m.

The notice includes a statement from the state agency, the City of Miles City and Custer County Water and Sewer:

The Montana Deparmten of Enviromental Quality has advised us that as of 9:00 am, August 23, 2023, The boil water advisory for the City Of Miles City and the Custer County Sewer District has been lifted and is no longer in effect . Disinfectant residuals have been confirmed and maintained in the distribution systems all week. IF YOU HAVE BEEN USING THE SERVICE IN YOUR RESIDENCE/ BUSINESS, (flushing toilets, washing clothes, showering, etc.) there is NO NEED to flush the water lines in the building/ residence as normal use will have maintained a disinfection residual in those lines. IF YOU HAVE NOT BEEN USING THE SERVICE, please follow the instrucitons below:

HOUSEHOLD FAUCETS AND PIPES: Flush your plumbing and pipes. To flush your plumbing, run water through all of your cold water faucets for at least 5 minutes . If your service connection is long or complex (such as an apartment building) consider flushing for a longer period. Your property manager or landlord should be able to advise you on longer flushing times.

AUTOMATIC ICE MAKERS: Dump existing ice and flush the water feed lines by making and discarding three batches of ice cubes. Wipe down the ice bin with disinfectant.. If your water feed line to the machine is longer than 20 feet, increase to five batches.

REVERSE OSMOSIS DRINKING WATER SYSTEM: Drain your RO storage tank, sanitize the system and replace the reverse osmosis filters. The filters are disposable and may be contaminated This especially applies to carbon filters and others that are near the end of thier life.

HOT WATER HEATER. Run enough water to completely replace at least one full tank of water . Flush the hot water for a minumum of 15 minutes for a typical household 40-gallon hot water tank, 30 minutes for an 80-gallong hot water tank or longer.

WATER COOLERS, IN LINE FILTERS, AND OTHE APPLIANCES WITH DIRECT WATER CONNECTIONS: Replace water coller filters and sanitize the system (Follow the manufactor's procedure)

Thank you for your patience during this event and we apologize for the inconvience and hardshipt this has caused the community.

RELATED: State DEQ: Miles City boil-water order to remain in place for at least a week