RESERVE — The Lions Water Treatment Facility mechanical failure that thrust St. John the Baptist Parish residents into a weekend boil water advisory was repaired and back to normal function by Monday afternoon, parish officials said.

The details surrounding the mechanical failure were not disclosed. While repair work was underway, the St. John the Baptist Parish Utilities Department took water samples and observed turbidity levels of 5NTU turbidity units, exceeding the standard of .15NTU turbidity units.

Residential homes and businesses in Reserve, Garyville, Mt. Airy, Edgard, Lucy and Wallace were placed on a boil water advisory Saturday evening due to the cloudiness observed in water districts 1 and 2.

According to Wastewater Collection System Manager Reed Alexander, high turbidity or cloudiness presents a higher chance of the water containing disease-causing organisms.

He said water is routinely monitored for turbidity to check how effectively the water supply is filtered. Boil water advisories are issued as a precautionary measure when abnormalities are observed.

To stay informed on the latest St. John the Baptist advisories with phone, email and text message notifications, visit the St. John Parish website at sjbparish.com and click on “stay Connected” to register for Parish alerts.

Alerts inform residents about boil water advisories, severe weather, election dates, construction zones, Parish office closures, parade routes and more.

For more information about water safety, please contact St. John Utilities at 985-651-6800 or visit 1811 West Airline Highway in LaPlace.

General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the Environmental Protection agency, and a Safe Drinking Water Hotline is available at 1-800-426-4791.