BROCTON — Village and county officials agree that teamwork helped soften the effects of a July 30 water leak that caused boil-water and conservation orders to be issued for the village and the town of Portland

“The leak was actually not findable by eyesight,” Mayor Richard Frost said at Wednesday’s Board of Trustees meeting. “It was in a triangular field with the grass probbaly three to four feet high. It was a line that no one expected to break, and it broke. It was one of our newer lines.

“It was a serious break,” he continued. “Once we found it, it was fixed within, I would say 20 minutes to a half hour. The problem was, we couldn’t drag enough water from Dunkirk to keep the tank full. And that’s where pressure was lost.”

In a press release issued by the county, the North County Water District and the Chautauqua County Department of Human and Health Services stated the leak was found and fixed Friday, Aug. 2.

“Water samples collected on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning showed the water was safe to drink and water levels in the Water District’s water storage tank were back to normal,” the release stated. The boil-water and conservation orders were rescinded Sunday.

Village and county officials have a long list of people to thank for their help with the leak.

“This includes the Village of Fredonia, City of Jamestown, City of Dunkirk, Village of Brocton, Towns of Portland and Pomfret, New York Rural Water Association, Clark Patterson Lee Engineering, Chautauqua County Office of Emergency Services, our area fire departments, and all others who provided assistance,” the press release stated. “In addition, the Chautauqua County Department of Health and Human Services kept its water laboratory open over the weekend to process water samples and to provide a quick turnaround of results.”

The release quoted Chautauqua County Commissioner of Health and Human Services Christine Schuyler, “All of the cooperation provided during the water emergency was monumental and helped reduce the impact and duration of the water emergency.”

“Many, many miles were on a lot of vehicles looking for leaks that just could not be seen,” Frost said Wednesday. “We thank everybody that had to do that. We think they did a decent job on this.”