FERRIDAY — After two days of boiling water, Ferriday residents can drink straight from the tap once again after the boil-water notice was lifted before noon on Thursday.

The ban started Tuesday when workers of Gudiel Company Cable of Marietta, Ga., hit a main water line in a ditch between two fire hydrants on Third Street.

The workers were laying fiberoptics for AT&T in the parish when they struck the line that flooded many yards on Florida Street and Third Street and forced the town into a boil-water notice.

Ferriday town employee Charles Lincecum said anytime there is a break in a water line, tests have to be made on the quality of the water.

“The water was sent and tested for contaminants, and it came back clear,” he said.

“There were no dangerous levels in it, so the notice was lifted.”

Ferriday Mayor Glen McGlothin said the town was without water for four and a half hours on Tuesday because of the break.

“Everything has been fixed and is running the way it should,” he said.

The break in the water line was not the only pipe problem Ferriday has had to deal with this week.

McGlothin said late last week a sewer line located next to Ferriday Town Hall collapsed.

“We are dealing with some old antiquated pipes,” he said. “They just gave out.”

McGlothin said the line is buried 14 feet underground and attempts to view the damage have been difficult.

“We have started to dig it out and view the damage with some cameras,” he said. “We got in and noticed there were some wires that aren’t marked, and we have to wait until they are marked so we can move forward.”

McGlothin said the majority of the cables are telephone cables that are expensive to fix, so the town has to wait to have them checked out before the line can be fixed.

“We are going to have it replaced with the newest material possible,” he said.

McGlothin said since Easter is this weekend, a crew won’t come in and work on the project until Monday.

“It takes anywhere from 48 to 72 hours to complete the work,” he said.

McGlothin said this is the third sewer line to collapse in the town in the past six months, and the repairs are beginning to be a strain on Ferriday’s pockets.

“This project is going to be around $12,000 to $14,000,” he said. “We have to start raising some funds.”

Ferriday has had problems with their water plant and water meters for years, leaving a large hole in the town’s funds due to lack of payments for water services received.

The Louisiana Rural Water Association revealed in a study that approximately 70 percent of the town’s water meters do not work properly.

“If you use a lot of water and are not paying for that water, then you are going to have problems,” McGlothin said.

McGlothin and the town have been working to fix this problem through a new water plant funded by a $6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Before the town can receive the grant, the USDA has required that a third party must be selected by Ferriday to come in and oversee the daily operation of the new water plant due to Ferriday’s failure to provide proper maintenance and operation of the plant they currently have.

Ferriday took bids for the third party company to oversee the plant through March 24. The town received only one response for the contract, JCP Management of Harrisonburg.

McGlothin said he and the board of aldermen will have a special meeting 6 p.m. Monday to vote on whether or not JCP Management will receive the contract, and if the board cannot agree on the company, the $6 million USDA grant may disappear.

“It is part of the USDA’s stipulations that a third party oversees the plant,” he said.

“If we do not meet their qualifications, they are not going to give us the money.”