Lafayette County issues water alert after Harmontown water main break

A water main break on Hwy 310 in the Harmontown area prompted a Lafayette County Sheriff's Office water alert, and the county said the water department had been notified and was actively working on repairs. The alert went out through the Lafayette County myocv alert system on July 17.

The break matters because water pressure problems can quickly trigger safety notices for homes and businesses served by the affected system. Mississippi Department of Health guidance says water systems issue precautionary safety notices when water pressure is lost, and those systems are responsible for notifying customers directly when they impose a self-imposed water safety notice.

For Harmontown residents, the immediate issue is service disruption tied to the break itself and the repair work underway on Hwy 310. The sheriff’s office post identified the location and signaled that crews were responding, but it did not give a restoration timeline in the notice shared with residents.

Lafayette County has dealt with water alerts before, and those past cases show why residents watch closely for direct instructions from health officials or water providers. In March 2016, the Mississippi Department of Health asked residents served by the Anchor Water Association water supply in Lafayette County to boil water vigorously for one minute before drinking after officials found total coliform bacteria in the drinking water.

Oxford water customers in Lafayette County have also faced state action over water safety. In a later case, the Mississippi State Department of Health issued a state-imposed boil water alert for City of Oxford water customers after a contaminated water sample, and the city collected samples on Thursday and Friday for processing on Saturday.

For now, the county alert tied to the Harmontown break points to a local utility problem under repair, with official updates moving through the myocv system and the sheriff’s office. Residents and businesses in the affected area will need to follow any direct notice that comes from the water system or health officials as repairs continue.