The state of emergency remained in place in Whitehall on Wednesday as crews "made significant progress" coordinating the startup of pumping from Pine Lake to the village’s drinking water system, officials said.

Most residents may see water flow return, however, they should not use their water until the village says so. A boil water emergency and water conservation restrictions remained in effect. Residents should continue utilizing the established distribution points for water.

The Washington County village has endured the water outage, along with relatively cold temperatures, for days. 

“There's an investigation to try to figure out the totality of the problem," said Matt Franklin, director of the state Office of Emergency Management. "You know, the reservoir is a little bit lower. With any system that's aging infrastructure, they're making sure that there aren't ongoing leaks or cracks or breaks or anything that may have been part of the system from 80 to 100 years ago that now needs to get rectified in a way that makes sense for current conditions.”

There were signs of progress. 

The Whitehall Central School District announced it will reopen Thursday on a normal schedule. Afterschool activities and athletics will also resume. 

The school district said it had an ample supply of fresh drinking water, as well as potable water that will be available for the cafeterias to prepare meals.

Bottled water and non-potable water remain available for residents at the firehouse until 8 p.m., and residents with portable water containers can fill them up. A warming center and bathroom facilities remain open until 8 p.m. in the Recreation Center at 28 Williams St.

“It's something else I've never been through it before," Whitehall resident Frederick Preece said. "I grew up in the country, you know? We had well water, so we never ran out.”

New York state provided members of the Incident Management Team to support the response, and the Red Cross and local fire departments were helping.

“It's really difficult to just go use the bathroom or wash plates or even make food," Whitehall resident Ana Karina Benitz said. "And when it's a lot of, like, members in the family, it's, like, more difficult.”

The Whitehall mayor said they are working on short and long-term solutions for the water issue.