Military officials say they anticipate lifting a boil water advisory as early as this weekend after repairing a 36-inch water main break that had affected some 93,000 people near Pearl Harbor.

The fix was the last for a string of water main breaks on the Navy’s system that began Friday, prompting the closure of child development centers and other facilities and forcing people to boil their water as a precaution against bacteria. The 36-inch break was the largest.

The Navy said Wednesday that it plans to slowly introduce water into the pipelines to restore normal water pressure. Then it will send water samples to the state to be sure there’s no bacteria.

The boil water advisory will be lifted once the test samples test negative, with results expected within two days, according to a press release.

However, residents may still experience fluctuating water pressure, sediment, a slight smell of chlorine and air bubbles in their water, it said.

“I want to thank our contracted partners, Dawson, Hawaiian Dredging and Coffman Engineering, who worked hand-in-hand with my Public Works Department,” Navy Capt. Mark Sohaney, the commander of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, said at a news conference. “I would also like to thank the Board of Water Supply for their continued support and allowing the Navy to connect to their system.”

The problem occurred on the heels of a fuel contamination crisis that began late last year due to leaks from the Navy’s Red Hill storage facility.

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