Boil order off in Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE – Residents in the Rio Vista neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale can stop boiling their water before using it, city officials said Tuesday.

Officials lifted the boil-water order for properties near Cordova Road and Southeast Seventh, Eighth and Ninth streets. The order was in effect since Sunday, when a water main broke at 811 Cordova Road after back-to-back breaks in other parts of the city.

Crews completed repairs on the pipe, and bacteriological surveys show that the water is safe to drink, officials said. The order was one of four issued in neighborhoods around Fort Lauderdale in less than two weeks. Crews fixed another water main break in February near the same spot in Rio Vista.

That break, the third water pipe to rupture in a matter of days, was near Cordova Road and Southeast 11th Street. Sunday’s water main break was the city’s fourth since May 13, when crews rushed to repair a pipe at 700 NW 19th Ave. in Lincoln Park. Another water main break at Bayshore Drive and Vistamar Street was repaired on May 16.

Then on May 19, a boil order was issued for homes near the 50 Isle of Venice Drive. That order was listed on May 21. The frequent breaks are happening because the long-neglected pipes weren’t replaced when they should have been, said Commissioner Ben Sorensen, whose district includes Rio Vista.

Fort Lauderdale plans to spend $600 million over the next five years fixing and replacing the city’s underground network of aging water and sewer pipes. The total tally will come to at least $1.4 billion over the next 20 years, experts say.