EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- Residents of East Cape Girardeau were asked to boil and conserve water Monday, due to a leak in the city's water system.

The city's water is supplied via a pipeline from McClure, Ill. East Cape Girardeau water supply maintenance chief Dale Brown said the pressure in the lines reflects a loss of about 25,000-30,000 gallons per day.

"I think it's a leak, but I sure can't find it," said Brown. "I've been looking for (the leak) for about 10 days -- ever since the weather turned bad.

"Each day the pressure in the lines was dropping off some more; it's getting progressively worse," he continued. "We drove the pipeline route today, but we didn't see a thing."

Since the top eight or nine inches of topsoil are frozen and the drainage ditches along the water line's route are filled with water from the recent snowfall, Brown has been unable to locate the leak.

"I know that a couple of houses here locally have leaks, but it would take quite a few to lose that much water," said Brown. "We just ask that if anyone has a leak, they report it right away so we can nail this thing down."

Until the leak can be located and mended, customers of the McClure-East Cape Girardeau Water District are being asked to boil water used for consumption, and to conserve as much water as possible.