(Updated) Morgan City residents still asked to conserve water

The aftermath of a couple of hard freezes in the Morgan City area caused a significant number of busted water pipes and made the city’s water pressure drop Thursday, according to city officials.

Officials advised Morgan City residents to conserve water as much as possible to allow the water pressure to increase, but the water pressure never dropped low enough to cause a boil water order, they said.

All St. Mary Parish public schools and South Central Louisiana Technical College’s Young Memorial Campus in Morgan City re-opened Friday.

Holy Cross Elementary also re-opened, but Central Catholic High School remained closed due to a boiler and heating system failure, according to the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

St. Martin Parish schools, included Stephensville Elementary, also stayed closed Friday due to broken water lines at various schools and low water pressure, Superintendent Lottie Beebe said in an email.

Morgan City Utilities Director Bill Cefalu said officials asked Morgan City and Stephensville residents starting Thursday afternoon to conserve the amount of running water they use due to low water pressure in the system.

Many of the breaks in people’s water pipes from the hard freezes didn’t show up until Thursday until the temperatures got above freezing, Cefalu said.

Once residents discovered breaks in their pipes, there was “a big drain’ on the city’s water system until residents called the city to cut off their water, he said.

The city’s water pressure still stayed at “a safe pressure” and was able to avoid going to a boil water order, Cefalu said.

But Cefalu did advise people Friday morning to try to conserve water as much as possible to allow the water pressure in the system to rise.

“Don’t use anything you don’t need to use like sprinkler systems,” Cefalu said. “Don’t let the water run when you’re brushing your teeth, and don’t try to flush the toilet every 15 minutes.”

Cefalu expected the city’s water pressure to be back to its normal level by Friday afternoon.

From Thursday night to Friday morning, the city’s water pressure rose because of lower water usage, Cefalu said.