Customers of the Tallulah Water System are experiencing a “complete water outage” Wednesday morning, city officials said following early morning repairs to the city’s water plant.

“The City of Tallulah has experienced a complete water outage during repairs on a major valve at the Tallulah Water Plant,” city officials said Wednesday morning in a statement. “Water crews are slowly turning water back on to ensure (the) system is not overwhelmed.”

In the statement, city officials said full water restoration should occur within three hours. Once water is re-established, they said, customers will be under a boil water advisory that will require water to be boiled at a rapid pace for three (3) minutes before use or consumption.

Tallulah Water Service officials announced this week that repairs scheduled for Wednesday between 1 and 4 a.m. were not expected to affect customers’ service, but said the possibility of an outage did exist.

Tallulah Water Service was recently appointed a new operator in Magnolia Water Operating Co. LLC, which has contracted with Patterson Professional Services to conduct repair work at the Tallulah Water Plant.

“The contractor will be replacing key valves at the water plant,” officials said prior to the scheduled work. “While the contractor does not anticipate any loss of water, we want to ensure customers are aware of the potential, should a water outage occur.”

“The City will continue to update during this water crisis,” Tallulah Mayor Charles Finlayson said in Wednesday’s statement.