The city issued a water boil advisory Thursday to approximately 105 homes.

At around 10 a.m. this morning, the city of Mercer Island Public Works was made aware that the southeast 40th construction project, an overlay pedestrian improvement project, caused localized low pressure in the water system between Southeast 40th Street and Southeast 36th Street, as well as between 88th Avenue Southeast and 90th Avenue Southeast.

Public Works Director Jason Kintner said that the crew had initially scheduled a water shutdown today for approximately seven homes. As workers started to go through the normal operations and procedures of the water shutdown, Kintner said that the incident was sparked when crew members ran into issues with the valving which, in turn, caused an unexpected low pressure water system event in a much greater area than just the seven homes.

This area involved a total of approximately 105 neighborhood homes and has raised concerns of water safety risks.

For the residences that have been impacted, the city has issued a boil water advisory which, according to Kintner, has been implemented as a precautionary measure due to the potential of pathogens possibly entering the water system for these homes.

“Those 105 homes, you can still use the water to wash your clothes, but anything that’s going to be consumed … that’s where the water should be boiled before consumption,” Kintner said.

Kintner expressed that they are currently pending test results on the water samples that they’ve already delivered to the lab and will know by Friday afternoon, due to a mandatory 24 hour incubation time, whether or not they will have to proceed with precautionary measures, or if they can lift the boil water advisory for the homes being affected.

“It’s a precautionary boil water notice and hopefully with the test results back tomorrow, we’ll be able to provide additional information,” Kintner said.