Pipe break could lead to boil-water order for two bustling downtown Miami buildings

The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer department sent an advisory Friday morning to warn drivers to avoid the area of Biscayne Boulevard and Southeast Second Avenue and Southeast Fourth Street and Second Street as crews repair a broken 12-inch water pipe.

Repairs are expected to be completed by 3 p.m. Friday, the department said.

Water service is temporarily suspended to the buildings at 200 and 300 South Biscayne Boulevard, an area that includes the JW Marriott Marquis Miami, the Knight Foundation and Met 1 Miami Properties, all of which have been affected by the break.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation building closed two days before New Year’s Eve, president and CEO Alberto Ibargüen, the former Miami Herald publisher, said in an email. A representative from JW Marriott said the hotel had low water pressure in some of the rooms in the morning.

Residents and building officials who had their water shut off Friday were notified by Miami-Dade Water and Sewer that they will be under a boil-water notice once service resumes, said spokesman Jennifer Messemer-Skold.

“If people do not specifically get a notice from the department, they are not affected,” she said.

These people would not have to boil water for cooking or drinking.

For those who are affected, once the water tests clear for two consecutive days the precautionary alert will be lifted and those people will be notified of the lift by the county, Messemer-Skold said.

The repair alert, sent out on Twitter, was given to let drivers know of potential delays, but no lanes have been shut for crews to do the work since there already is construction in the area. “We were able to utilize that construction zone to make repairs so we’re not adding any impact to lane closures,” Messemer-Skold said.

The water line break, she said Friday morning, is “run of the mill. It’s not a big emergency. We will be back with service in the next couple hours.”

This story was originally published December 29, 2017 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Pipe break could lead to boil-water order for two bustling downtown Miami buildings."