Free bottled water and nonpotable water available at Clark Street Fire Station

Staff report

The freeze-thaw cycle that has gripped the Mahoning Valley continues to have a devastating effect on infrastructure as waterline breaks and broken pipes have plagued area communities.

Repair of equipment in East Palestine that caused a water emergency in the village over the weekend is nearly complete, but its 5,000 residents remain under a “boil order” and are urged not to use municipal water except in an emergency.

In the meantime, crews are bleeding air out of the waterlines and re-pressurizing them and refilling the water tanks, said Peter Monteleone, village manager. Re-pressurizing the lines, however, caused new waterline breaks that water department crews worked on Monday, fire officials said.

Also, officials said, residents can get free bottled water at the Clark Street Fire station, courtesy of Salem Walmart, and nonpotable water for flushing toilets, if they bring containers, between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Monteleone said one of the two main well pumps was repaired Saturday and the second was back on line at 2 p.m. Sunday. Combined, the pumps produce about 700 gallons per minute, which he said is enough to feed the system and build up levels in the water tanks, including the 90,000-gallon tank at the water-treatment facility. Also, he said one of three booster pumps that push water to higher elevations is operating.

Monteleone said he was optimistic that by today the system will be operating properly. Rresidents, however, should not use municipal water for drinking until the boil order is lifted, he said.

Problems with the water system began during the below-zero temperatures last Tuesday when waterlines burst and the monitoring system malfunctioned. By the time the leaks were discovered, the water tanks were low and the pumps quit functioning.

“Everyone worked as a team and everybody has been very understanding and helpful to get through this. It is a real blessing,” Monteleone said.

Mahoning County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to bypass state advertising and competitive bidding requirements to make emergency repairs where pipes burst due to last week’s cold snap, causing flooding at Oakhill Renaissance Place and at the county jail.

“You can’t bid something out at midnight when the water’s flooding the basement,” said David Ditzler, the new chairman of the county commissioners.

James Fortunato, county purchasing director, said he could not give a damage estimate, but he believes insurance will cover most of the damage.

The 8-inch main water pipe broke Wednesday in Oakhill’s sub-basement, closing Oakhill early Wednesday afternoon and keeping it closed all day Thursday.

“At the justice center [county jail], we had sprinkler heads break. We had toilets freeze, and we had flooding,” Fortunato said.

In Trumbull County, a break in a Girard waterline along Church Hill-Hubbard Road east of Belmont Avenue in Liberty Township occurred around 8 a.m. Monday and was fixed by late morning, a Girard water official said. The break affected some residents there.

The break probably was due to the weather and was considered routine, he said.

St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, 2053 North Road NE, Howland, was among the Valley churches hit by flooding that resulted from the freezing, thawing and breaking of pipes, said Matt Sauer, marketing manager for ServiceMaster by Lewis Construction of Warren, which is handling the restoration work at the church.

St. Nicholas is still able to have services, but parts of the building will be off limits during repairs for four to six weeks, said Father Ken Bachofsky.

By Wednesday, when temperatures went back up, Lewis Construction started getting calls for broken pipes, and the calls continued right through the weekend.

The worst ones were in homes where nobody was home for a few days, and the water went “unchecked for a day or two,” Sauer said. “This is the busiest we’ve been for a long time.”

Lee Martinek, manager at Handyman Ace Hardware in Champion, said the first thing people wanted to buy early last week were torpedo heaters that throw out heat so they could thaw out frozen pipes.

“I could have had 400 [of those] and they would have been gone,” she said. Then people came in to buy heat tape and foam-insulated pipe wrap.

By late in the week and the weekend, they were buying plastic fittings to replace the pipes that had broken.

It can be helpful in a house that will be empty during cold spells to drain the water out of the pipes and shut off the water supply where it enters the house, Sauer noted.

Bob Goodrich, president of Goodrich Cleaning and Restoration Supplies of Boardman, said he could have sold three pallets of air movers, commercial-grade dehumidifiers and moisture probes (which indicate the amount of moisture in various construction materials) to restoration companies if he’d been able to get any.

He said it’s a good idea to open the valve on outside water spigots and close the valve to that spigot just inside the house to prevent outside spigots from freezing.

Paul Clouser, owner of National Water and Fire Repair, said his company has worked on four houses that were “gutted” because water ran through them for days before anyone realized it.

Those damages occurred more than a week ago, when the cold snap was just starting. Another wave of broken pipes occurred as the temperatures dropped Tuesday. It peaked Wednesday as the temperatures began to rise.