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Water-main break brings gusher

Pipe leaks for 2 hours; residents lose pressure
Pipe leaks for 2 hours; residents lose pressure

A construction crew removing an abandoned water intake Monday on the Animas River at 29th Street in Durango broke a water main, causing a hemorrhaging of 17 million gallons an hour.

The break was caused by work at the river’s edge by Animas Valley Construction.

The break was noted at 1 p.m. by Dave Ferguson, superintendent of the city’s water treatment plant, said Steve Salka, city director of utilities. The leak was capped at 3 p.m.

Ferguson realized something was amiss because flow meters on water mains were going wild, Salka said.

“Durango has 11 water tanks that feed off each other,” Salka said. “So the water loss was not from a single tank.”

Salka said a water main that runs under the river from east to west was capped at each end. The length beneath the river will be repaired, he said.

“No (untreated) river water got into the system,” Salka said. “The lost water was treated water.”

Salka said residents in the affected area, north and west of 29th Street and East Third Avenue, lost water pressure for a time, but no water.

If residential water appears cloudy, it’s likely residue on pipes that was shaken loose by the tremendous force of the escaping water, Salka said. The water has been tested and is safe, he said.

Salka said water customers can open a tap until water clears.

The force of the water in the pipes was the equivalent of 25 fire hydrants at the same time, Salka said.

Cathy Metz, director of the city Parks and Recreation Department, said the Animas Valley Construction crew was removing a water intake and the green pumphouse at the river’s edge, which haven’t been used since the city built a new intake at the water treatment plant at Santa Rita Park.

The work is part of a project to extend the Animas River Trail from 29th Street to 32nd Street, Metz said.

Three construction crews are involved in the project, she said.

daler@durangoherald.com



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