The city of Auburn overnight repaired a major water line break on Franklin Street without having to shut down the water, Public Works Director Jerry DelFavero said. Residents can use their water this morning. It’s safe to drink and no boil water order is needed, according to a release from the Cayuga County Health Department. The repair took about four...
The city of Auburn overnight repaired a major water line break on Franklin Street without having to shut down the water, Public Works Director Jerry DelFavero said.
Residents can use their water this morning. It’s safe to drink and no boil water order is needed, according to a release from the Cayuga County Health Department.
The repair took about four hours and involved clamping the breached line on Franklin Street across from East Middle School, DelFavero said.
"We're good. It worked and hopefully we're out of the woods,'' DelFavero said.
Some 10,000 residences and businesses in the city and in Aurelius, Brutus, Mentz, Sennett and Throop were alerted this week that they could temporarily lose water service for part of today if the repair took longer than expected.
If you have questions call the health department at 253-1405 or the city water treatment plant at 253-8754.
The repair work started at 11 p.m. and Auburn Correctional Facility, the maximum-security prison on State Street, was preparing for the worst. The prison enacted a water conservation plan late last night that called for no toilet flushing for its 1,700-plus prisoners.
Nearby Cayuga Community College was also planning to shut down for the day if there was no drinking water because the Franklin Street campus does not have a backup water supply.
The leak in the 30-inch line was discovered last week in a four-foot section of the line on the south side of Franklin Street across from East Middle School. The water line is old and the break was so big that DelFavero feared the city would have to shut down water service to replace the section of the breached line. That would have taken longer than clamping the line and could have caused other problems, DelFavero said.
You can reach Scott Rapp at srapp@syracuse.com or 289-4839