Water Main Break - Plymouth MN (6/30/2014)

Driving home from work at appproximately 6:00 p.m. last night we saw water gurgling from the ground on the North side of Old Rockford Road just about 50 feet W of Zachary LN. We witnessed two City of Plymouth utility vehicles rushing to the location. We picked up our mail and drove back by the location to see a utility worker preparing the turn off an underground valve. Arriving home, we had no water. We left home and picked up dinner at a Wendy's. Back home again we had some water available but very low water pressure. This morning we still had low water pressure. We left for work at about 7:30 and saw utility crews preparing to dig at the site. I called the City of Plymouth water department and they advised that water to our area would be turned off from 8:30 a.m. until the work was completed with an estimated time of 4  hours.

Comment: The image above is not a photo of the Plymouth MN water main break - rather a water main break from Philadelphia from 1896. (I love retro black and white photos!) . Image source.

Imagining 14 million gallons of water = 21 Olympic Pools of water!

Drinking water deemed safe after 'unprecedented' break
Excerpt:

Workers Friday morning lifted the toppled backhoe that caused a major water main break in downtown Minneapolis that flooded streets with 14 million gallons of water and cut off water to a substantial swath of the city Thursday afternoon.

Dozens of workers for the city, Xcel Energy and Centerpoint were at the scene near the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, continuing around-the-clock work to clean up the area and repair the damage. Many downtown workers were sent home early Thursday because water was brown and toilets weren't working.

But the city reported Friday morning that the drinking water is safe. And toilets were flushing and water ran clear Friday morning at the Fifth Street Towers in downtown. The buildings and Caribou Coffee shut down early Thursday because of the break. "We got through it," Caribou staffer Luke Norfleet said.

At the scene Friday morning, gas company workers were checking that a nearby gas main was stable before city crews begin placing a sleeve over the break. The pipe lies about six feet away from the water pipe.

Comment: Scene at the office .... gross ... toilets filled up. People fled.

How much is 14 million gallons? Image above (source) (2000 Australian Olympic pool)

An Olympic pool (source) contains ...

660,430 gallons

Thus a spill of 14,000,000 gallons would be the equivalent of ...

21 Olympic Pools of water!

No flushing at work ...

Water main break cuts off service to much of downtown Minneapolis

Water main break is at "A". I am at red boxed building.

Excerpt:

A major water main break in downtown Minneapolis at mid-afternoon Thursday cut off or reduced water service to much of downtown and workers were not expected to finish repairs until the evening.

The break was caused when an unidentified excavation contractor working for a utility company was working near the pipe shortly after 2 p.m., according to Marie Asgian, the city’s superintendent of water distribution. The break occurred at Hennepin and 2nd St. N., she said.

Water surged through nearby streets. “We’ll work into the night, whatever needs to be done,” Asgian said. “Nobody is going home until this is complete.” She said the cast-iron pipe will be repaired by cutting it and placing a sleeve over the break. She said that will happen after the break is isolated.

Typically those pipes rest eight feet below the surface.

The main is one of several major pipes carrying water across downtown to distribute through the city and caused a major impact downtown, with reports of lower pressure extending beyond Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Comment: people are leaving! Sign on the restroom ... only use for emergency. We are working until 6

Update: Star Tribune map of affected area. (We are working from home tomorrow)