Park Slopers Plagued By Water Outages Days After System Leak: DEP

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — More than 100 neighbors on Prospect Park West are still facing water shut-offs nearly a week after two leaks were found on the street, according to officials.

About 150 residents between First and Ninth Street will have their water shut off again on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after it returned to the block after overnight construction, according to Department of Environmental Protection.

The shut-offs are the latest in a six-day saga to fix two leaks, the first of which was found on the corridor on Friday, according to officials.

The outages have left frustrated residents unsure when their water will return for good.

"The lack of timely updates when we blow by the last prediction, by numerous hours, is absurd. This happened last week," one neighbor wrote to DEP on Twitter. "Hello, ... hello, anybody there?"

A leak on Prospect Park West's water system first appeared on Friday afternoon, leaving residents with limited or discolored water for several hours while DEP searched for and replaced a broken section of the water main, according to updates from the department.

Water was turned on later that night, but soon workers realized a broken valve was still stopping water from reaching certain residents, the updates show.

"We were told it was fixed and the water barely came on, no pressure at all, and then gone again," one resident said.

The repairs picked up again on Tuesday night, shutting off water between First and 15th streets overnight while crews replaced a 20-foot section of the pipe, according to the updates.

By morning, residents learned the shut-off would take longer than expected given a second leak on the main, according to Council Member Shahana Hanif, who has been updating neighbors on Twitter.

"The emergency contractor completed the scheduled repairs and water was restored to most neighbors," she said just before 1 p.m. "However, an additional leak on the main has appeared."

Hanif said DEP is working on supplying bottled water to residents who will be without water while they fix the latest leak.

DEP said at 3:30 p.m. that the next shut off would take place that evening.

The construction will close Prospect Park West between Eighth and Ninth streets and Ninth Street between Prospect Park West and Eighth Avenue, the department said.

"Crews are going door to door now to confirm who is without water. But everyone south of 9th Street should be OK," a spokesperson told Patch. "Barring any further unforeseen circumstances, tonight’s work should be it."

Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.