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Series of water-main breaks plagues city of Campbell
By Jeanne Starmack
CAMPBELL
A water-main break left 75 percent to 80 percent of the city without water and leaked 750,000 gallons of water before crews managed to fix it.
A citywide boil alert was in effect until noon today. People will have water, though water pressure might still be low. Water pressure should return to normal by noon, after the city’s tanks fill up, said city administrator Lew Jackson.
The break, at Tremble Avenue and 14th Street, happened at 6 p.m. Monday, said Shawn McCormick, an operator at the city water plant.
It was fixed by 3 p.m. Tuesday. Another break, however, was under way at Hyatt Avenue and Struthers-Liberty Road. It began within an hour after the first break was fixed. It affected only the Struthers-Liberty Road area, Jackson said. It was fixed by 5 p.m., and Jackson said tired workers from the street and water departments went home.
“Those guys — they need some rest,” he said.
By Tuesday morning, the first break had left the elementary and middle schools building off Struthers-Liberty Road without water, and it was already planning to close, said Thomas Robey, schools superintendent.
The high school on Sixth Street was going to open, but water pressure was dropping all over the city, Robey said. He said the district closed all its buildings.
“We cooperated with them to make sure the city was safer,” he said.
He said the water main break likely wouldn’t be an issue by this morning, but the weather might have an impact on whether schools were open today. Up to 7 inches of snow was expected Tuesday night, and up to 3 more inches was predicted for this morning.
Jackson said the city’s pipes are breaking for a number of reasons.
The pipes are old, he said. The weather fluctuation, from warm three weeks ago to cold again, had an effect on them, he said.
He said a car accident three weeks ago in which a woman hit a fire hydrant on Warhurst Street caused pressure problems in the lines.
“We had 10 to 12 breaks within a 21/2 week period after that happened,” he said.