Sunday, January 11, 2015

WATER MAIN BREAK FIXED IN ELKDRIGE, MARYLAND; SERVICE RESTORED. WATER MAIN REPAIRS IMPACT MORE THAN 600 PEOPLE IN ELKRIDGE



WATER MAIN BREAK FIXED IN ELKDRIGE, MARYLAND; SERVICE RESTORED. WATER MAIN REPAIRS IMPACT MORE THAN 600 PEOPLE IN ELKRIDGE






ELKRIDGE, Md. —A water main break in Howard County early Friday morning left hundreds without water and forced classes to be canceled at an area school.
A 12-inch water main broke on Old Waterloo Road in Elkridge right across the street from Deep Run Elementary School and an apartment complex, which meant no water for the school and about 600 customers.

Tricia Collins-McCarthy, principal of Deep Run Elementary School, said she found out about the break around 5 a.m. and was able to get the word out that school was canceled.
"(We) got all the information out to our key staff members through social media and contacts in the community. We let the community know, also staff went to bus stops for us today," Collins-McCarthy said.

By late Friday morning, crews had placed a cap on the pipe to stop the leak. By mid-afternoon the line had been fixed and water was restored.
Area residents took advantage of free water made available at Deep Run Elementary School.

"I'm home sick from work. It's a little inconvenient, (it) would be less if I was working today, but I'm home all day sick, so we'll see how it goes," said Patrick Miller.
"I can't take a shower, can't wash dishes, can't cook certain meals -- it really hurts a lot of people," said Dave Hersh.

According to county utilities officials, January and February is when they see the largest number of water main breaks.

As far as the cause for the break, it wasn't because of a ground shift, rather the drastic temperature change of the water flowing through the pipe from reservoirs to the north.
"When there are big swings in the water temperature in the lakes, it's similar to when you put an ice cube in hot water, that cold water comes through the pipe, and cracks the pipes and that's what breaks water mains, not the air temperature," said Steve Gerwin, bureau chief of the Howard County Bureau of Utilities.

As residents returned home from work, public works officials asked people to flush their lines by running the water for about 10-15 minutes, which should get any discoloring out of the water. Officials said the water is safe.