MP Utilities repairs ‘catastrophic’ water main break Sunday

An 'ominous” water main break was repaired in Mt. Pleasant early Monday, Dec. 24 around 4 a.m., said Mt. Pleasant Municipal Utilities general manager Jack Hedgecock.

The water levels were quickly replenished and there is no threat to the public.

Mt. Pleasant Utilities was alerted by their alarm system to the water main break on Sunday, Dec. 23, around 4:51 p.m. but were unable to locate it for a couple of hours, Hedgecock said.

'It wasn't where anyone spends time or could see it,” Hedgecock said. 'That's what caused the issue was the inability to find the leak. Generally when we have a leak, the public will notice it.”

Hedgecock said employees drove along the water main system clear out to Oakland Mills, Franklin Avenue and 'all over town” before identifying the leak because of an increase in water in a creek. They tracked the water main break back to the south end of N. Harvey Place in Mt. Pleasant by the Mid-Am Building Supply. The leak was found around 6:45 p.m.

Valves were shut down and water supply to water towers A and B began building volume again on Sunday, Dec. 23, around 7 p.m., Hedgecock said.

The leak was 'just a stress fracture,” Hedgecock said, caused by shifting ground and possibly train traffic that runs through the area.

Mt. Pleasant Utility's 'larger” water users, like the Rathbun Rural Water Association, were called and asked to curtail their water usage until the problem was fixed.

Hedgecock said the repair was a collaborative effort with Mt. Pleasant Public Works, Mt. Pleasant Police Department and other responders.

After the first break was repaired, the water main broke a second time 10 feet east of the original break. Hedgecock said this is not uncommon because a 'catastrophic” leak like that causes a lot of shock on the whole system. Both leaks were fully repaired.

While it was a difficult and time-consuming repair, Hedgecock said they were lucky the temperatures weren't colder.

In Hedgecock's seven and a half years with Mt. Pleasant Utilities, he said he has never had a water main break that took this long to find. 'Generally, we can find them very quickly because they're obvious,” he said.

Despite the leak, water levels remained at 40 pounds per square inch (PSI). Boil-water advisories are mandated if the PSI drops below 20 PSI.

Hedgecock said Mt. Pleasant Utilities has zero to six or seven water main breaks a month, and it is more common in the winter as the ground thaws and refreezes.

Hedgecock said he appreciates the public's understanding and patience as Mt. Pleasant Utilities dealt with the water main break.

Mt. Pleasant Utilities was out on Wednesday, Dec. 27, doing some 'clean up” work. They were getting mud out of Mid-Am Building Supply's storage lot and will level the area once it dries, Hedgecock said.

The line that fractured was put in in the 1970s and is in 'very good condition,” Hedgecock said.

Hedgecock said that Mt. Pleasant Utilities is looking into putting leak detection equipment throughout the water main system to catch leaks like this in the future.

Hedgecock said the technology is fairly new and not yet in place in most communities. Mt. Pleasant Utilities will try to fit it into their fiscal year 2019 budget, which begins July 1, 2019.

'We'll phase it in and get critical locations first,” Hedgecock said. 'It will give us another tool to be able to respond more quickly.”