Keys water pressure slowly returning after the third water main break in a week

For the third time in a week, a water main break blocked traffic along U.S. 1 in the Florida Keys Saturday night.

The pipe broke around 9 p.m. in roughly the same area in the Upper Keys as the other two leaks earlier this week.

It impacted water pressure up and down the Keys, even forcing busy Duval Street bars to close early because they lost too much water pressure.

The break was repaired around 8 a.m. Sunday, and the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority said customers’ water pressure would gradually return throughout the day.

The FKAA also issued a precautionary boil water notice to its customers effective until Wednesday at 5 p.m.

And, as with the other pipe breaks, officials were forced to divert U.S. 1 traffic to the Old Highway, which runs parallel to the only major artery that wends through the island chain, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

During each water main break earlier in the week, traffic on U.S. 1 was stalled miles in each direction for hours.

Krystal Waldner, spokeswoman for the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, told the Miami Herald Saturday night that the utility experienced “another leak between mile marker 80-90, we have crews out now investigating.”

“Please conserve water and we will continue to update,” Waldner said.

The series of leaks comes a month before the FKAA is scheduled to begin a $42-million project to replace aging pipe infrastructure in the Upper Keys.

This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Keys water pressure slowly returning after the third water main break in a week."