The Village of Yellow Springs is issuing a Code Red call to Yellow Springs residents at noon today, Jan. 11,  to alert them that they may resume normal use of water. After a water line break last Thursday, Jan. 3, villagers had been notified that they should conserve water until further notice.

The need for conservation took longer than expected due to complexities following the initial water line break in the Gaunt Park area, according to Village Superintendent of Electric and Water Distribution Kelley Fox in an interview today. That break, which was apparently linked to cold weather, would have been relatively simple to fix except that in excavating the line during the repair process, the fracture expanded, causing a water blow-out that emptied one of the Village’s two water towers. Consequently, the emptied tower needed to be refilled, and that process is time-consuming, according to Fox..

“We have to let the tower fill up slowly,” he said.

But the tower has now returned to its normal water level, and villagers can return to normal water usage.