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BH Hopes Water Service Is Back Later Thursday

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Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey says it’s hoped water will be restored in Benton Harbor this afternoon. He told the Berrien County Board of Commissioners Thursday a major water line broke on Wednesday around 4 p.m. off Klock Road. Due to it being the main line that carries water to the rest of the city from the water plant, most of the city lost service. He said the county, city, and state worked with local contractors all night.

“We were working with Benton Harbor, the health department, the state of Michigan, and we thought last night that the water main would be repaired between 2 and 5. They had some problems because there was an unknown source of water filling up the hole. Early this morning, they found out where that source was and got it shut off.”

Crews were working on draining the water. Bailey said the hope is to have water back on later in the afternoon. However, he noted there could be another break when the water is turned back on, or there could be contamination. He said thousands of cases of bottled water are available for residents, and local contractors along with the Berrien County Road Department have brought in large tanker trucks. Water can be picked up at the Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency and Benton Harbor High School. Early in the break, there were plans to connect to St. Joseph or Benton Township’s water systems, but the decision was made not to do that because the break occurred near the area where such connections would have been made.

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