P-J photo by Jordan W. Patterson

Jamestown Board of Public Utilities employees continued work at North Main and Third streets Monday when a valve broke before noon forcing widespread water shut offs.

Becky Robbins, BPU communications coordinator, said employees were “tying in a new main on Third Street and Main this morning” prior to the valve breaking and water being shut off from on North Main Street, from Third to Fourth streets.

Additional work on North Main Street forced BPU to shut the water off from Third Street to Fifth Street, Robbins said.

Customers were advised to delay doing laundry and warned of the potential for discolored water. Water lines from Third to Fifth streets were expected to be back on by 7 p.m.

Robbins said the “water is safe, but is just discolored.”

Discolored water can take anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to clear, she said.