A water main break Sunday morning in Lewiston on Orange Street has caused flooding of the streets and residential homes and prompted the city to issue a boil water order. 

As city officials are working to address the break, school in Lewiston on Monday has been canceled.

Around 7 a.m., a 12-inch water main on Orange Street failed, said Lewiston’s Water and Sewer Operations Manager Nathan Landry, gushing between 6,000-10,000 gallons of water a minute for about an hour. This leak caused water pressure across most of the city to drop, leaving thousands of residents without water until around 8:30 a.m. when public works shut down water on Orange Street from Webster Street to Sabattus Street and on Diamond Court, according to the city.

At around 2 p.m. on Sunday, public works had removed the damaged portion pipe and were working on repairs, which could be complete in as soon as four hours, said Landry. This repair would return water service to the nearly two dozen impacted homes on Orange Street and Diamond Court.

The neighborhood is just south of St. Mary’s Medical Center.

Later on Sunday morning, the city issued a boil water order for a majority of Lewiston due to the possibility of unsafe drinking water. The guidance remains in effect until further notice. 

The boil order was issued as a precaution due to the drop in water pressure, said Landry.

Orange Street and Diamond Court also experienced flooding, with the leaked water waist-deep in certain places. Landry said one basement on Diamond Court flooded and two other homes have flooded front yards.

Once the water main is repaired, an 18-hour test of water safety would commence. If the system is deemed safe, the boil order could be lifted as early as Monday afternoon.

School officials said Sunday that once the boil water order is lifted, the district will carry out a flushing process for all school facilities.