A mandatory conservation order remains in effect in Weirton, with a city-wide boil order issued Friday following additional water line breaks.

At 10:40 a.m. Friday, the Weirton Area Water Board reported multiple line breaks throughout the city, including in a major line servicing the downtown area that resulted in service outages in several parts of the city.

Friday afternoon, an update reported that Utilities Director A.D. “Butch” Mastrantoni had negotiated with Cleveland Cliffs to provide water from its facility to the city, beginning with the lowest points of Weirton.

“Sometime later, a pump is being delivered to pressurize the water being received,” according to the notice. “The pump being installed will deliver water from the lowest to the highest areas as the system gets pressurized. We are not exactly sure when the repressurization of the system will be complete, but this process needs to be done gradually to avoid additional breaks and to protect the system.”

Bottled water will be available at the Weirton Fire Department headquarters station located in Municipal Plaza, and the Gilson Avenue and the County Road fire stations.

In the meantime, crews and outside contractors have been mobilized to restore water service.

“The time necessary to effectuate these measures is uncertain,” according to the notice. “Affected residents and businesses should plan on a potentially lengthy outage.”

At the same time, the water board issued a city-wide water boil order as a result of the work being performed on the main pump line.

Under the boil order, water customers are recommended to bring all water to a boil, let it boil for one minute and then cool before using, or use bottled water.

Boiled or bottled water is suggested for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, bathing and food preparation.

The orders were the latest in a series of concerns connected to Weirton’s water system, which included the issuing of a mandatory conservation order by the Weirton Area Water Board on Dec. 18.

“Much of the situation has been a result of numerous line breaks that have hit us one after another,” Mastrantoni explained following the issuance of the conservation order.

Mastrantoni explained then there had been upward of 30 line breaks in the city during a two-week period.

The conservation order remains in place, and those who still have service are being asked to reduce their usage of water until further notice.