City lost ‘hundreds of thousands of gallons’ in water main break

By Brandi Makuski

When a contractor accidentally struck and broke open a water main last week, it’s estimated anywhere between 300,000 and 500,000 gallons of treated city water were lost.

It’s not immediately clear how many properties were affected by the water main break, but the city’s utility director, Joel Lemke, said anyone still dealing with discolored water should call his department.

The break occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on July 11 as crews were working on a complete rebuild of Minnesota Ave. It’s part of the city’s regular street maintenance plan, rebuilding sections of different roads each year.

The project includes upgrading the road surface, water mains, storm sewers, curbs, gutters, and sidewalk on a section of Minnesota Ave. south of Clark St.

“We had it isolated very quickly with other valves, it was fixed that evening, probably two hours later,” Lemke said on Friday. “But the resulting high flow through different pipes stirred up some sediment in the pipe, and that kind of continues right now.”

Lemke said the discolored water was caused by that sediment, but the height of the disturbance occurred on July 12; the same day as the city’s weekly water testing for bacteria. The city tests about 35 sites across the city, he said.

“If it was going to be an issue, [sample tests] would’ve come back with problems. But it came back fine,” Lemke said. “It just wasn’t that kind of an event.”

The cost of the lost water, which Lemke estimated was in the “hundreds of thousands…I’d say probably 300,000-to-500,000 gallons,” will be passed onto the contractor, not to city water customers.

Lemke said his office has taken a number of phone calls from anxious residents concerned about social media posts alleging that the discolored water might be dangerous.

“We’d be the first one’s telling you if it wasn’t safe, and not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s the law; we’d have to issue a boil water notice or something like that. A lot of the calls I’m getting are from people looking at Facebook, and I tell them, ‘Well, you can look at Facebook, that’s up to you, go ahead,'” he said, laughing.

On Tuesday, Lemke said that residents affected by the discolored water were asked to flush their water from a faucet or fixture that does not contain a screen. He said fixtures such as a basement laundry sink work very well.

But what about residents who don’t have such a sink?

“I’d tell them to call us; we’ve been pretty much nonstop going to people’s homes. The best thing you can do is call us because that’s what we’re here for,” he said. “We’ll send the service guy out, and a lot of times, they end up pulling the water meter out, putting a hose where the water meter was, and running it outside.”

Customers who are still seeing discolored water should call the water utility at 715-345-5260 for assistance.

“The water is still safe for all uses including drinking, bathing, and cooking,” he said.