As most people in Sloatsburg know by now, the water main on Rt. 17 at Liberty Rock Road in front of the Sloatsburg Library broke again. Traffic crawled through the swampy village center Thursday morning as United Water subcontractors worked on the breach, with water main work continuing all day and into the evening.

United Water, which serves Orange and Rockland counties, as well as other areas of New York state, is a subsidiary of French conglomerate Suez Environnemental.

A similar section of 8″ pipe at the Rt. 17 and Liberty Rock Road junction popped a leak last year as well.

United Water spokesperson Deb Rizzi said it wasn’t clear what caused the break, which was reported at 3 a.m. Thursday.

Both southbound lanes of traffic along the stretch through Sloatsburg were closed most of the day, with traffic funneled into a one lane road using the northbound lane. Residents living along that stretch of Orange Turnpike in Sloatsburg were issued a water advisory to boil water for drinking, cooking, and other household needs.Water advisories are in effect up to 72 hrs upon completion of water main repairs.

Five o’clock traffic through Sloatsburg Thursday evening moved surprisingly swift, with cars dutifully moving into one lane just before the construction area. Water main repairs along Rt. 17 are now completed.

Let’s hope that the huge potholes from last year’s water main repair work are now smoothed over as well.