A sigh of relief in Seward as water is once again safe for drinking

Some good news for Seward residents – you can now drink the city’s water again.

City officials believe last Saturday’s storms are to blame for a water main break that drained nearly a million gallons of water from the city’s two water towers, leaving residents without clean drinking water until Wednesday afternoon. 

"It was a perfect storm in the sense that the power outages, as well as the flooding, made it hard to find this break," Seward Mayor Joshua Eickmeier said. 

 "And then, of course, with the eclipse and everyone coming into Seward, it created an additional sense of urgency."

Crews searched for hours for the leak, but had a hard time finding it – as the recent flooding left it completely underwater. 

"You got all that storm water and then you got all that water from the water towers going in there, it added a little more to the problem," Tim Richtig, Seward’s Water/Wastewater Superintendent said. 

Once they found the leak, crews worked round-the-clock to get the problem fixed. 

To isolate the leak, they had to install new valves on the north and south ends of the city so that, when they shut the water off to that area, local businesses could still get water. 

"Quite the undertaking, yes it was," Richtig said. 

As of Wednesday, things are getting back to normal in Seward. 

The local car wash is back in business, the water towers are full, and Pac’N’Save, a local grocery store, is re-stocked after being wiped out. 

 "It turned into a little bit of a mad house," Michaela Sheehan, a Pac’N’Save employee said. 

"We had people walking out with like 10 cases of 24 bottles of water – or more."

Sheehan saw the mad dash for bottled water firsthand. 

She says while people may have been worried, they never lost sight of what was most important – with residents checking on their neighbors, those with young children, and the elderly. 

"Everybody pulled together in a time of need and it was great to see," she said. 

Governor Pete Ricketts, Senator Ben Sasse and the Nebraska National Guard all stopped by Seward to help out – and many residents pitched in by buying or transporting bottled water for those in need.