City of Port Townsend workers wore yellow coats and hard hats in the rain Monday, Nov. 13 as they worked in a muddy pit to replace a broken water line and damaged fire hydrant. The hydrant and line …
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Port Townsend Water Department workers Kevin Ellis (left) and Matt Capriotti stand in a muddy pit in the rain as they install a new water line near the intersection of Ivy Street and Hastings Avenue Monday. Photo by Chris Tucker
City of Port Townsend workers wore yellow coats and hard hats in the rain Monday, Nov. 13 as they worked in a muddy pit to replace a broken water line and damaged fire hydrant. The hydrant and line were broken when a vehicle apparently crashed into the hydrant Saturday evening.
The work is being done at the intersection of Ivy Street and Hastings Avenue.
“It’s kind of like the movies, only it didn’t have that huge fountain [of water shooting up],” said Greg Lanning, the new Public Works director for the City of Port Townsend, of the broken hydrant and line. “It just bubbles up” from the ground, he said.
As a result of the broken line, residents near Hastings Road between Howard Street and Jacob Miller Road may have experienced low water pressure Nov. 12.
Lanning said the fire hydrant was connected via either a 4- or 6-inch cement pipe to a 10-inch water line, and that the concrete line had cracked when the vehicle struck the hydrant.
“They work real well, but they’re somewhat brittle also and can crack easily,” Lanning said of cement pipes.
Repair work began Monday morning, and officials anticipated it would be completed that day.
The cement pipe is to be replaced with a new one made of ductile iron. A valve is also to be installed.
“It affects quite a few people, but not too badly,” Lanning said.
The leak was estimated to be 50 gallons per minute, he said, which – as far as leaks go – is “not terribly bad.”
“It can sound like a lot of water, obviously, to you and I, [who] buy a gallon of water off the shelf at the store,” Lanning said.
But for a municipal water supply, a leak of this size is just a drop in the bucket.
Lanning did not have any details on the vehicle that struck the hydrant, although he said that identifying it would be helpful for insurance purposes.
Lanning said that it isn’t necessary for residents to boil water because there are no water-quality issues.
The broken line is on the higher area of a hill. Lanning said water pressure is generally lower on top of hills, even when no pipes have been broken. Additionally, the leak also pulled water from a reservoir tank.
“We always like to say we’d rather not have any leaks or any repairs,” Lanning said.
As for affected city water customers, “we certainly appreciate their patience and understanding,” Lanning said.
