The cities of Sandusky and Huron have lifted advisories asking residents to use less water due to frozen intake pipes at their water plants, which forced them to use stored water.
According to the City of Sandusky, crews had been tackling heavy ice and working to restore water flow at the Big Island Water Works plant.
The city posted the following update to Facebook on Tuesday evening, saying it was making progress in stabilizing the water, but restrictions remained in place.
"Due to the current critical conditions, the City is not taking in new raw water at this time, and all water use is being supplied from water already stored at the plant," the city said in a Facebook post.
The advisory was issued as a precaution to ensure there is enough water until the flow is restored.
"While crews are hopeful that conditions will improve, it is possible that the plant’s stored water supply could be exhausted before intake flow is restored. If that occurs, the City will immediately communicate next steps and any additional actions residents may need to take," the city said.
According to officials, there is no issue with water quality, and it remains safe to drink; the issue stems from the plant not being able to take in fresh water.
On Wednesday, Sandusky officials lifted the city's water advisory.
"After several days of challenging winter conditions, water system operations have stabilized and the system has recovered. There was no issue with water quality, and the water remains safe to drink," the city said. "With cold weather expected to continue, we are closely monitoring conditions and continuing work on multiple backup options to help maintain reliable water flow."
The City of Huron issued a similar advisory on Tuesday, stating that ice has also restricted water flow to the Huron Water Plant.
"Please REDUCE non-essential water use to help manage the demand on the system!" the city said in a Facebook post. "Crews have been working around the clock and throughout the weekend to restore normal operations!"
On Wednesday, the city of Huron said its advisory has been lifted after mobile pumps were brought in to keep up with water flow production.
"Staff have been working and will continue to work around the clock in extremely harsh weather conditions to ensure Huron residents are serviced with water!" the city said in a Facebook post.
