COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. (WRIC) — Colonial Heights has lifted its three-day boil water advisory after a waterline break caused a widespread water outage on Wednesday. Colonial Heights officials announced at around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday that the water in the city is now safe for normal use after bact eriological samples collected on Thursday, April 2, and Friday, April 3, were clear of E. coli and coliform bacteria. The samples were tested by a state-certified laboratory, according to the notice. The city issued a boil water advisory for residents on Wednesday due to the likelihood of E. coli in drinking water affecting citizens and businesses, including some in Prince George County. This came after a waterline break on a 16-inch PVC cater main in Old Town Creek. PREVIOUS: Colonial Heights distributes safe drinking water after boil advisory issued over line break While the broken water main was repaired within the next day, testing the water samples took more time. Officials cautioned residents to follow these post-advisory flushing instructions before resuming normal water use to ensure fresh water has reached their plumbing system: Run all outdoor taps for about 10 minutes to bring fresh water from the water main to your property If you use cartridge filtration systems, replace the filter(s) before consuming water If you have a water softener, run a regeneration/backwash cycle Run all cold-water faucets indoors for one minute, starting with the faucet closest to the water line entry, then moving through lower-level faucets and finally upper-level faucets Clean faucet aerators Run the hot water in a bathtub for 10 minutes to replace water in the water heater Dispose of any ice that may have been made while the boil water advisory was in effect For more information, residents can call 804-520-9300 or email [email protected]. ...read more read less