FKAA break cuts water pressure, boil notice issued across Lower Keys

Water pressure dropped to no water in parts of the Lower Keys Tuesday after a Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority transmission break at U.S. 1 and 65th Street in Marathon, forcing a precautionary boil water notice for homes and businesses across a long stretch of the island chain.

FKAA issued the notice at 12:40 p.m. May 19 for areas where pressure had fallen below 20 psi. The affected zone ran from Lower Matecumbe Key at mile marker 77.5 to Curry Hammock State Park at MM56, and from Knights Key at MM47 to Beach Drive on Big Pine Key at MM32. It also included Torch Keys, Ramrod Key, Cudjoe Key, Upper Sugarloaf Key, Lower Sugarloaf Key, Baypoint, Bluewater, Shark Key, Rockland Key and Boca Chica Key.

The City of Marathon said crews were working at the break site on U.S. 1, the Keys’ main traffic artery, where the transmission leak had cut pressure enough to disrupt service well beyond the immediate repair area. The city later said the leak had been repaired and that water pressure was expected to return gradually throughout the day. Marathon also said its beaches and parks remained open, but urged residents and visitors to use them at their own risk.

The break showed how quickly one failure can ripple through Monroe County’s utility network. FKAA supplies potable water to the Florida Keys, and its drinking water comes from the Biscayne Aquifer on the mainland. The authority has said the existing pipeline system throughout the Keys is generally 40 to 60 years old, a detail that helps explain why a single transmission failure can trigger pressure loss across multiple islands.

FKAA’s own replacement planning reflects that vulnerability. In a separate Knights Key project notice, the authority said the existing transmission main there has a history of failure and that a new parallel line is intended to provide redundancy if one pipeline breaks. FKAA’s system serves about 55,000 customers and pumps roughly 20 million gallons of water a day, making the transmission network one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure in the Keys.

The precautionary boil water notice remained in effect until 3 p.m. Friday, May 22, unless updated sooner. For residents, restaurants, hotels and shops from Marathon through the Lower Keys, the repair was more than a brief utility problem. It was another reminder that a break on U.S. 1 can reach kitchens, faucets and daily routines across the island chain in a matter of hours.