The water line was located north of Stratford, according to Corey Iben, human resources and administration manager for Xenia Rural Water District.

It’s not known what caused the 16-inch-diameter line to break, but Iben said it was a main transmission line coming out of the plant.

He referred to it as a “pipe split.”

About 800 customers have been impacted by the break.

“We realized the issue around 5 in the morning, if not just a little bit before,” Iben said. “I think we had the main physically repaired around noon, if not before.”

“For what we had to deal with, it went relatively smoothly,” he added.

The break impacted a very large area, including eastern Webster County and western Hamilton County.

The affected area in Webster County includes the vicinity of Lehigh and Brushy Creek State Recreation Area.

Much of western and central Hamilton County is also impacted, including areas near Webster City, Stanhope and Stratford, as well as Little Wall Lake, Jewell, Ellsworth and Randall.

The affected area also includes Boone County as well as a portion of Story County. A very small portion of Wright County just over the border with Hamilton County is also affected.

While the line has been repaired, Iben said the boil advisory will remain in effect likely until Monday.

Scott Forbes, Webster County emergency management coordinator, said testing will have to be done twice. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources hopes to test once on Saturday and once on Sunday, with the hope being that the order will be lifted Monday.