Thousands of Lake County residents are being asked to boil their water Monday night because of a water main break in Mount Dora.

It's the start of the second week of school at Mount Dora Middle School. Students had a new crucial school supply on Monday in addition to their pencils and notepads: water bottles.

When students returned to both the middle school and high school Monday morning, they were greeted by trash bags covering the water fountains.

Announcements explained the schools, as well as about 3,000 residents in Mount Dora, would need to boil their water.

"Lowe's are out of water now because we literally went out and bought all the water they had and basically put a pallet at each school so there are two bottles of water for each student," said Chris Patton, a spokesman with Lake County Schools.

Mount Dora residents noticed their water pressure drop to just a drip Sunday afternoon. City officials found the problem running underneath U.S. Route 441, at Lincoln Avenue.

Officials said they think that's the water main that broke because a big change in pressure when a reclaim water line also broke just before the water main.

"They were working from right when they got the call to right around 4 a.m. (Monday) to make sure all the businesses and residents had their water restored," said Kelda Senior, of the city of Mount Dora.

The fountains were running again Monday outside the Country Club of Mount Dora, one of the largest areas of the city that was affected. Bathrooms were operational at the schools, too.

But until the system stabilizes and officials get test results back on the water supply, the schools will be handing out bottles of water, and homeowners are asked to boil their water.

Bathing, showering and washing hands are fine, but residents should boil their water for cooking, drinking and brushing their teeth for next 48 hours as a precaution, officials said.

The boil water notice covers homes and businesses east of Highland Street, from State Road 44 to the Orange County line. The advisory is expected to run until 7 p.m. Tuesday.