Some customers in West Columbia without water much of day Sunday

Problems with the relocation of a water line left many customers in West Columbia without service much of the day Sunday — and longer than originally intended — the city reported.

The city cut off water service to about 200 customers in Lexington County on Saturday for a “major” water-line project — relocation of a 12-inch water line and two, 6-inch water lines to accommodate S.C. Department of Transportation road work near Leaphart Road and Mineral Springs Road. However, West Columbia’s contractor encountered an “unforeseen problem” while relocating the 12-inch line, according to a news release Sunday morning.

The city had hoped to restore service by noon. But at 1:30 p.m., a leak in one of the new connections was discovered when the water was turned on. The city had to turn the water off again so that the contractor could make a repair, according to a release later in the day. Water service was subsequently restored to some customers on Mineral Springs Road, but the majority of customers affected by this outage were still without water as of about 7:30 p.m.

Full service has since been restored, according to a release sent shortly after 9 p.m.

Customers affected by the outage are advised to vigorously boil their water for at least one minute before drinking it or using it to cook. Also, any ice made from water that has not been boiled should not be used for drinking.

Water customers may check the city of West Columbia website atwww.westcolumbiasc.gov for updates on the boil water advisory.

This story was originally published January 3, 2016 at 8:00 PM.