Significant Water Main Break Disturbs Residents

A severe water main break on Route 35 in Somers, just west of the Water Treatment Plant, caused Yorktown residents to experience dirty water or no water at all. The Water Department received phone calls at around 6 p.m. last night and quickly responded to the scene.

The leak was isolated within an hour, two valves going upstream and downstream were shut off, water coming out of the ground was stopped, a 16-inch pipe was repaired and a new eight-foot-piece section of that pipe was put in. Everything was fixed by midnight.

Water Department Superintendent David Rambo said they are slowly increasing flow from the Water Treatment Plant, and introducing water back to the system at a slow rate to prevent any damages and not to disturb the system more than they need to.

"The whole system needs a day or two of calming down," he said.

Residents, if experiencing dirty water, are advised to run it for 20 minutes. Rambo said the department has taken bacterial samples as a precautionary measure, and there is chlorine in the water to disinfect. 

Although hard to pinpoint what exactly caused the water main break, ground shifting and water hammer might be to blame. Rambo said any shifting in the ground could cause pressure on the water main, and a water hammer is caused when the direction of the water is reversed.

"Volume combined with pressure is a recipe for disaster if something goes wrong," Rambo said.

There was one house in Somers that experienced damage in the basement, Rambo said. The Highway and Sewer Departments, as well as the Somers Fire Department responded to the scene.

"It was a good cooperative effort," Rambo said.