MARTINS FERRY — Belmont County’s largest community was without water from Sunday through Monday afternoon after a main waterline from the water treatment plant broke.

Around noon Monday, city workers were running water through fire hydrants and informed people who asked that the breaks had been repaired.

“It’s done, we’re just filling the lines,” city employee Jeff Jackson said. “We’ve got to keep moving along, but we’ve had two breaks. The first one started at First and Center (streets) and then another one happened when we turned the water back on down by Wheeling Steel. That’s what took the longest. It’s all done, and we’re just hooking the tanks back up and flushing the lines.”

The operator on duty at the water plant said the city would be under a 48-hour boil order as of 8 a.m. today. The public is also advised to let their water run clear before washing clothes.

Keith Wilson said the break badly drained the city reservoir but did not completely deplete it.

“The reservoir was never completely down,” he said. “It came down quite a few feet. We started to gain water in there now.”

Wilson said the water tank was never empty.

“The biggest problem was refilling the system. It’s a process. It’s not a regular valve like at home. It takes time. You’ve got to build pressure. We’re getting there,” he said. “The water’s running now. Not everywhere. It’s going to take time to get everywhere, but we’ve got water running right now.”

Wilson said the entire city should have service again by today.

He speculated that the age of the line might have been a contributor to the break.

“We are the oldest town in Ohio,” he said.

The Belmont County Emergency Management Agency supplied water buffaloes with potable water at the Martins Ferry Volunteer Fire Department Ladder Station at 240-304 S. Fourth St. Firefighters were on hand to provide water to residents who showed up with empty jugs.

Councilman Bruce Shrodes stopped by the station Monday afternoon. He said the firefighters have been filling water jugs throughout the break.

“They fixed the 20-inch water break. They worked all night on it,” he said. “They’re still working, cleaning the fireplugs and the lines and filling the system back up. … They have the water flowing now, it’s just a matter of filling the system up.”

John Calgill of Ralston Avenue was among those who stopped by the ladder station for water. He said it was a shock when service was disrupted.

“It kind of all happened at once,” he said, adding the work of the city employees to repair the damage and provide water was very welcome. “Thank you very much for this.”

Jack Regis Jr., safety director for the city, said he did not know when water would be fully restored to the entire city.

“They’re restoring water as we speak,” he said. “It’s a slow process. People just need to be patient. … I know the crews worked all night long to get the break repaired. We had tankers for firefighting purposes on standby in town from Spirit of ’76 and Morristown to aid in the event of a structure fire. We still have automatic mutual aid response with the county tanker task force should we have anything, not only to help us in firefighting but to assist the city in restoring the water supply.

“If people need potable water for cooking or drinking purposes and cannot get here or need assistance, they can call the city building police department and we will try to assist them as best we possibly can,” Regis said.

Mayor John Davies could not be reached for comment but gave several updates on his Facebook page. He thanked the Salvation Army, the Lions Club and area businesses for providing food and drinks to those on duty while they worked to repair the breaks and restore service.