Water services were restored to residents and businesses in Durango’s Skyridge and Jenkins Ranch neighborhoods around 7 a.m. Friday after two crews worked overnight to repair several water valves accidentally damaged by utility workers.

The city issued a news release at 2 p.m. on Thursday notifying residents of a water line break at the intersection of Hillcrest Drive and Silver Mountain Lane.

It is unclear how many homes and businesses were lacking water services Thursday afternoon through early Friday morning.

The break occurred when contracted utility crews that were overhauling the electrical grid accidentally damaged three water valves, Durango utilities manager Justin Elkins said.

“I have to take responsibility for that failure even though the city (didn’t hit those lines),” he said. “The locates of the service lines were incorrect (at the top of Silver Mountain Lane).”

Elkins said the water lines in question, galvanized lines that are three-fourths of an inch in diameter with pressure of about 100 pounds per square inch, are approximately 50 years old and the city gave the contracted utility crews incorrect information on their whereabouts.

When the water valves – which are not very deep below the ground’s surface – were punctured, water immediately started spraying into the air with about the same pressure as a garden hose, he said.

He said the city attempted to isolate the water main but broke isolation valves on it in the process, causing an interruption to water service for homes in the area.

“The city understands what it means for you to be out of water and we apologize for that,” he said. “These are self-inflicted wounds. We failed to locate properly. After the lines were damaged, when we isolated the water main, we broke those isolation valves, causing larger water service interruption (to the) area.”

Elkins said the city is reworking its procedures for emergency water line repairs in order to avoid similar issues in the future.

The city is currently performing valve exercising, which helps prevent buildup of rust in pipes due to corrosion or other issues, but that is currently ongoing in downtown and still working itself up the grid, he said.

“We need to up our game when it comes to routine operation and maintenance,” he said.

Although the water lines are repaired now, additional outages will be initiated in the coming days for the Skyridge and Jenkins Ranch areas to make further water valve repairs. Elkins said the city will notify residents when those outages are scheduled.

cburney@durangoherald.com