Vicksburg tap water is no longer off limits.

A citywide boil water notice was lifted Thursday, a week after service resumed following a break in the city’s main water line.

The city received notice its water had been cleared by the state Department of Health shortly after 11 a.m., said Pat McGuffie, head of the city’s Water Treatment Plant, who added all service in the city had been restored and is operating normally.

&#8220We’re up and doing fine,” he said.

As required by law before lifting the notice, the city sent the Department of Health 60 samples Tuesday and 60 more Wednesday from various points in the system, McGuffie said. Tests were conducted to determine if there was any contamination from bacteria that may have entered the system when the flow stopped or grown while pipes had no pressure.

Under the notice, residents were asked to boil all water to be used for drinking or cooking. Bathing, washing and other routine uses not involving consumption were OK.

&#8220We’ve got our ice machines back, that’s the main thing,” said Eddie Monsour, owner of Monsour’s restaurant on Country Club Drive, one of many relieved restaurant and service station owners able to resume serving tea, coffee, fountain drinks and other drinks and dishes requiring water without resorting to more expensive bottled brands.

&#8220We’ve been buying ice every day for a week and a half, and buying bottled water,” he said, both of which were unexpected additions to overhead costs.

&#8220I think it’s marvelous,” said Joan Carlisle, owner of the Chocolate Derby coffee shop and Purple Ladder sandwich shop on Washington Street, of the clearance. &#8220Of course it put us all in a bind. We were able to do coffee, but we had a lot of extra expense.”

A boil water notice has also been lifted for the Culkin Water District in the county, which buys water from the city. A notice remains in effect for customers of the Yokena-Jeff Davis Water District, a spokesman there said, because the company has not received sample results back from the state.

Fisher Ferry and Hilldale water districts in the county were not under boil water notices.

A 36-inch main line from the water treatment plant on E.W. Haining Road ruptured due to ground movement on Sept. 13, leaving the entire city and parts of the county dry within hours and dozens of city officials and employees searching for several hours in the night for the source of the break.

The line that ruptured is the city’s primary line from the water plant, and splits into two 24-inch lines running in opposite directions at Jackson Street, said Public Works Director James &#8220Bubba” Rainer. From there, the system further branches out into webs of 18, 10 and 8-inch lines – down to 2-inch lines to individual homes.

The break may have cost the city more than $50,000 from lost meter sales and water wasted by draining due to the break and repressurizing the system, Strategic Planner Paul Rogers said last week.