Allan Appel Photo
A pipe burst early Wednesday morning on downtown Temple Street, shutting down water service to an entire block while crews scrambled to fix the problem.
Tim Parks, a supervisor with the Regional Water Authority (RWA), said he arrived on scene at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to respond to the report of a break in the water line that goes from the hydrant to the garage at the Omni Hotel. The authority had to shut down the water to the whole block of Temple between Chapel and Crown — including the Omni and other businesses — to stop the leak. That permitted them to dig for the nearest valve, so they could turn just that valve off and return the other lines to service.
As of 10:30 a.m., the workers were still searching. A crew of at least six or seven people, and three RWA vehicles, were on the scene as workers hunted for the valve. Parks said he couldn’t estimate when the crews would find the valve and thus return water service to that block.
(Update) Communications and Outreach Manager Kate Powell said that as of 2:30 p.m., crews were still on the scene addressing the problem, which she described as “a leak in the pipe that went from the water main to the hydrant.”
“The area was without water for 40 minutes this morning. It was back on by about 6:30 a.m.,” she clarified.
Because the leak undermined the area, the crews were still at work. “We need to fill it in,” she said.
“It should be done by this evening, but you never know.”