Water main breaks on St. Michaels Street

Public Works is waiting for warmer weather to repair a water main that broke Monday downtown.

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Crews closed down the section of St. Michaels Street between Church Street and Main Street Wednesday in response to a broken water main.

Public Works director Carl Johnson says his office received a call at around 10am. When the crews arrived on scene, he says they found water running downhill in the street.

“We shut off the main for that one little section of road between Church Street and St. Michaels Street. There’s only actually two customers on that portion of main. One of them had a secondary water source off Church Street, so we were able to put them back on water almost immediately. The other home has a temporary water service right now running through their neighbor. So, we were getting everybody on water and plan to leave that main shut off until things warm up a little,” says Johnson.

Public Works re-opened that portion of road to through traffic after about two hours.

By that time, the water that had leaked onto the street had already turned to ice.

Johnson says the below-freezing temperatures this week make accessing the break difficult.

He says at this time, he’s not sure exactly where the main needs to be repaired.

“The tricky part will be finding exactly where the leak is because, especially now with the ground frozen. The water was coming out of the ground in several locations that were far apart, so trying to narrow down where to start cutting and digging to repair it [was difficult]. We’ll try to narrow down the source of the leak, expose the pipe, and repair it,” says Johnson.

Once repairs begin, Johnson says the street will likely be closed for about two days. But, he’s not sure yet when that will be.

“Depending on how warm it gets we may have to wait for a little while. I’d like to see the ground thaw out a little bit and that can be a little slower. Later on, once things actually warm up in spring, we’ll likely pour the concrete patch then,” says Johnson.

The weather is expected to warm up later this week, with the forecast calling for rain and snow by Friday.

KSTK will keep you updated on the repairs and road closures as they happen.