You wouldn’t think the folks who live at a luxury condo in downtown Fort Lauderdale would have to boil their water before they drink it.
But that’s exactly what the residents of the 32-story WaterGarden condo have been doing for the past two weeks thanks to an old water pipe that broke on Sept. 7.
“We are now on Day 14 of the current boil-water notice and there is no end in sight,” Steve Lutz told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “What troubles us the most is that no one seems to know how to fix the problem. They just keep flushing the system over and over, day after day, week after week.”
The 315-unit WaterGarden condo and other buildings in a three-block section downtown were under a similar boil-water notice last year after a water pipe broke near 450 E. Las Olas Blvd. That time, the boil-water order lasted for 18 days.
The city has been testing the water daily, checking for bacteria and E. coli.
Under state rules, the city cannot lift the boil-water order until it gets passing test results two days in a row. So far, that hasn’t happened.
Until the boil-water order is lifted, all tap water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth or washing dishes will need to be boiled for at least one minute.
Some wondered if the pipe break was caused by construction going on next door.
Public Works Director Alan Dodd says no.
“It was not related to any construction project,” Dodd said on Wednesday. “It was an old pipe that broke due to normal wear and tear.”
Dodd says he shares residents’ sense of urgency in fixing the problem.
“We want it solved as much as they do,” he said. “Because it’s an area along the river where there’s not a lot of water flow, we increase the pressure coming out of the plants and we open up fire hydrants to get water flowing as much as possible. We’re increasing the amount of water we’re pushing through the pipes to try and flush it out.”
For the past two weeks, Lutz says he’s been using bottled water instead of boiling the water that comes out of the tap.
The city has been delivering water by the caseload to the condo, but Lutz says he and his neighbors want the problem fixed yesterday.
“Some things you just take for granted that they’re going to work,” he said. “Some people were talking about going to friends’ homes or joining a health club so they don’t have to take a shower with dirty water. It’s been two weeks. We can’t go on like this forever. But it seems like it is going on forever.”
What’s even worse is they worry it will happen again, Lutz said.
Fort Lauderdale is no stranger to pipe breaks.
The city plans to spend $600 million over the next few years fixing and replacing the city’s underground network of aging water and sewer pipes. The total tally will come to at least $1.4 billion over the next 20 years, experts predict.
But for now, some of those old brittle pipes remain in place, taking a toll on residents when they break.
WaterGarden resident Roy Kroker shipped off an email to the entire commission this week expressing “serious concerns” about the long-term reliability and safety of the city’s water supply.
“This ongoing crisis has raised questions about the infrastructure’s ability to support such developments without compromising the well-being of The WaterGarden and the surrounding buildings,” he wrote.
Sharon Miller, another resident, shares his concerns.
“You can’t call yourself a ‘world-class city’ when residents are routinely required to boil their daily drinking water,” she said. “It didn’t have to be this way. Planning for scores of towers should also have taken into consideration the crumbling pipes below those towers.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan