A boil-water advisory placed on Goshen's water supply was lifted Friday after tests conducted by the state Health Department confirmed the water is safe to drink.

The news comes as town officials wrestle with a costly decision over a long-term solution for fixing the small Rockbridge County community's antiquated system of public waterlines.

State water quality officials have recommended that the town replace about two miles of 6-inch, cast-iron pipe dating to 1936 that runs along Virginia 39 through the center of Goshen.

That could cost an estimated $1.5 million to $1.7 million, said Robert Foresman, Rockbridge County's director of emergency management.

While state and county agencies likely will pick up some of the cost, the town council will meet July 17 to discuss its options.

Goshen's aging water system began to fail June 13 when lightning struck pumps that move water through the system from an underground spring. An ensuing series of 14 leaks in waterlines prevented most of the town's 400 residents from getting water restored until Sunday.

Jim Moore, who works with the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water, said notices alerting residents that the boil-water advisory had been lifted were placed at the town hall, the post office and at the local gas station about 4 p.m. Friday.

"Goshen's a really tight-knit community. The word will spread quickly," he said.

The water supply was tested 10 times per day for coliform bacteria in locations throughout town on Tuesday through Thursday.

"We wanted to be very cautious in Goshen," Moore said. "All samples were negative all three days."

But he cautioned that the system as a whole is still fragile until major repairs are made.

"We're proceeding pretty cautiously in Goshen," Moore said.

This time last week, about two dozen personnel from the Virginia National Guard and the Virginia Defense Force were going door to door distributing bottled water to residents.

They were brought in after Gov. Tim Kaine on June 20 declared a state of emergency for the town. The declaration allows the governor to deploy state personnel, equipment and other resources, and to coordinate state and local response to an emergency.

Approximately two dozen state and local water operators and emergency personnel responded to help the town.

The regular Goshen Town Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed until 7 p.m. July 17 at the Goshen First Aid Building.

The state Department of Housing and Community Development, as well as the Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project and the Health Department could provide some funding to the town for water repairs, said Dale Kitchen, a state health official.

"That's going to be worked out between the county and the town," Foresman said, probably through a "combination of grants and loans."

Kitchen said some financial relief could come from state funds made available when Kaine gave the town emergency-designation status.

He said news of the major waterline repairs should not be a surprise to town officials.

"There was a preliminary engineering report that was completed several years ago that contained the same recommendation," Kitchen said.

Another decision that town officials will discuss at the meeting will involve retaining control of the water system or turning it over to the county's Public Service Authority, Foresman said.