Story updated at 12:08 p.m. Friday

The City of Lawrence has issued a warning about drinking water to 24 households in eastern Lawrence after a series of water main leaks in the area.

The city left precautionary notices on the doors of residences that were without water following the discovery of the leaks early Wednesday morning, city spokesman Porter Arneill said in a news release Friday.

Arneill said the affected homes are along 19th Street, from Learnard Avenue to Haskell Avenue, and there are no health concerns for residences other than the 24 directly notified by the city.

The notice advises residents that they must boil water for at least three minutes before drinking because of a system failure that carried a “high potential that fecal contamination or other disease-causing organisms could enter the distribution system.”

Specifically, the notice states that a water main break led to a loss of pressure in the system that may cause back pressure or back siphoning of water from outside the pipe. The notice states that when repairs are complete the water will be tested for microbial contaminants and that bottled water will be provided. As of noon Friday, crews were continuing repair work, Arneill said.

Arneill said the issue was caused by a failure in a water transmission main in the 1200 block of New York Street and that leaks were present near New York Street from about 13th to 15th streets, with the leaks affecting parts of the system as far south as 19th Street between Learnard and Haskell avenues. Arneill said that initially 14 households were identified but that additional households were later found to have lost water pressure.

Road closures are in place on Learnard Avenue, north of 19th Street to Johnson Avenue, and New York Street, from 12th to 14th streets, Arneill said.

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