Broken Arrow Back In Business With Boil Order Lifted

Broken Arrow is getting back to normal after the city lifted the water boil advisory Thursday morning, meaning the water is safe to drink.

The city says its water tests showed no signs of contamination, so now the pools and splash pads are open and restaurant owners are back to doing what they love.

Debbie Ohman spent much of Thursday morning on the phone, while her husband Steve spent the morning cleaning, running water, and changing water filters.

"As far as the ice storm and this right here, this is the only time that we've ever been closed," Steve said.

The Ohmans own Stone Mill BBQ and Steakhouse. They've been closed since Wednesday afternoon, hoping for a few blessings.

6/13/2013 Related Story: City Of Broken Arrow Lifts Outdoor Watering Ban

"It's been very stressful, because we didn't know whether we were going to be open or not," Debbie said.

Stone Mill and dozens of other Broken Arrow restaurants were forced to close when the city's water supply became dangerously low.

The nightmare began Tuesday, when a water line burst and the health department became worried the water was contaminated.

As a precaution, St. John Broken Arrow transferred patients to other facilities and the health department ordered all restaurants that use the city's water supply to close.

It amounted to a loss of around $4,500 dollars for the Ohmans.

6/12/2013 Related Story: Health Department Orders Broken Arrow Restaurants Closed

"I'm more than frustrated with what has happened," Steve said. "The communication from the city and whatnot, and the things that happened, is complete negligence, as far as I'm concerned."

But Thursday morning, Stone Mill was given the go-ahead to reopen, as long as they run the water through every faucet for 15 minutes, sanitize the ice maker, and clear the lines for their fountain drinks.

"I feel relieved, but I'm still nervous, because I still need to do all this cleaning first," Debbie said.

Stone Mill BBQ was able to get everything clean and opened back up Thursday afternoon.

The city is asking all residents to flush out any water in refrigerator water dispensers or ice machines. They're also saying it's a good idea to run your dishwasher empty one time, just to be safe.