The Crystal City Water supply is back online and functioning normally after “a very bad day” Thursday (Jan. 25), water superintendent Larry Lalk said.
The culprit was a break Thursday morning in the main water feed line, which essentially shut down the supply of water to the city’s north zone.
Lalk said he knew something was wrong with the Crystal City water system about 7:15 a.m. Thursday.
“We saw the pressure drop and I knew it was something big because we were losing footage in the tanks,” Lalk said.
Because water was draining from the tanks, Lalk said he knew the problem was in the main feed, which connects the water treatment plant to two 500,000-gallon tanks.
The valves were closed on both tanks that delivered water to the city, Lalk said.
“Customers in the higher elevations did not have water, or what they had was very low pressure,” he said. “(In fact), everybody was low pressure.”
The north zone is the area of Crystal City north of the CVS Pharmacy, Lalk said.
The southern zone includes Mercy Hospital Jefferson, which wasn’t affected by the break, he said.
A boil water advisory was issued for Crystal City on Thursday morning and was lifted around 9 a.m. today (Jan. 26), after health officials tested samples of water and deemed it safe.
The water problem not only affected residents but also businesses, and Jefferson County Health Department officials said they notified 43 businesses about the boil water order. The Crystal City School District didn’t have water, so school was dismissed at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Water department crews quickly found the leak, but there were obstacles to overcome before it could be fixed, Lalk said.
“We know where the main feed is,” he said. “We started looking for all the hot spots (former locations of trouble).”
They located the problem, a 6-foot split in the line, but it was in an area that was difficult to access. It was in a wooded area at the end of Compton Drive, down in a valley, Lalk said.
The water department had to cut a 100-yard path to the site of the break and then contact other utilities before digging and repairing the main, he said. Lalk said the area was saturated with water.
“It was pretty sloppy,” Lalk said. “The backhoe got stuck for a while, and we used the bucket to get it out.”
Workers then cut out the section of main that was split and replaced it, he said.
Crystal City’s water system was up and pumping water again just before 1 p.m. Thursday, Lalk said.
He said that after the recent stretch of cold weather, the unusually warm weather on Thursday could have caused the pipes to expand and probably was the cause of the break.
Lalk said he was proud of the crews who brought the water back online.
“The city Water Department crew worked very efficiently and quickly to restore pressure and the Street Department pulled some people to assist with the water,” he said. “I’m very appreciative of their hard work.”