WATERTOWN — Watertown is out of water. The city’s reservoirs have been depleted and all that is left is what is in the pipes, Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith said just after 2 p.m. Thursday.
“At this point I would doubt anybody has any water,” he said noting that the upper floors of Samaritan Medical Center had no water and lower floors had just a trickle. “The reservoirs are empty.”
This worst case scenario has been unfolding since early this morning when a water main broke just outside the main treatment facility on Huntington Street.
Mayor Smith said there are two pipes that exit the facility, one is 16 inches in diameter and the other is 26 inches in diameter. And the redundancy of the pipes may be the biggest problem at this point. “The problem is there is cross connections for redundancy, but the shut off valves, because of pressure, failed.”
That means both pipes that run to the city’s two reservoirs that combined hold eight million gallons of water had to be shut off entirely. So starting at about midnight every toilet flush, every shower or other use of water was a little more removed from the reservoirs. Fourteen hours later, they were empty.
City crews have been working on the issue for more than 12 hours with no end in sight.
“They are working on identifying where the break is, because they haven’t been able to get in there,” Smith said.
Smith said at about 12:30 p.m. that the actual break has not been accessed. Others have said, and photos confirm, that the area of the break is flooded and water cannot be pumped out quickly enough to address the root problem.
Mayor Smith said once the break can be accessed and repaired it will take 24 to 36 hours to refill the system, including two reservoirs which hold three million and five million gallons each.
“We don’t know what parts are broke, we don’t know what we need, and we don’t know if we have them all or not,” the mayor said.
By noon some city residents were already without water.
Water Superintendent Vicky Murphy said some residents entirely lost water service because one of the city’s reservoirs has dried up and the other will soon be.
City Manager Kenneth A. Mix warned at about 11 a.m. that the water levels were dropping in the reservoirs.
The larger reservoir has capacity of five million gallons of water, while the smaller can hold three million. It’s unclear which one is empty. It’s also not immediately clear what parts of the city the reservoirs serve, or whether their outflow is connected.
The city has known about a leak in the reservoir system that loses about 500,000 gallons a day and has been trying to figure out how to address, Mix said.
Mix, in a mandatory conserve water notice released Thursday morning, said there should be no use of unnecessary water until further notice, and all water should be boiled before consuming.
Public works superintendent Patrick Keenan said crews isolated the valves but cannot begin excavation because of the amount of water in the hole where they’re working.
“We know where it is but we cannot get to it,” he said.
The city still doesn’t know how long it will take to make the repairs.
The major water main break occurred sometime overnight in front of the water treatment plant and at Eastern Boulevard and Huntington streets.
The break is at a water line that comes out of the water treatment plant and leads to the reservoirs, Mix said.
He got a call about it around 12:45 a.m.
Mix, who was at the scene of the break early Thursday morning, said the city has to figure out if it has replacement parts and is notifying companies to get them if it doesn’t have them, he said.
Smith said the city is looking at setting up a spot at the Watertown Fairgrounds to have bottled drinking water available.
It is not currently set up, but Smith said that they were working on it. State emergency management was at City Hall Thursday afternoon and coordinating resources.
The mayor said they think one of the issues is a valve and Fort Drum is assisting.
“They’ve been a good partner,” he said.
He also said he has spoken with Fort Drum officials and they are also working on setting up a mobile water treatment system that could be set up behind the arena. They would treat the water and have treatable water on site that would be available to residents.
“They’re on it looking right now to bring something in,” he said.
The city school district sent students home because of the situation.
The water main break also is affecting Fort Drum, the town of Watertown, Pamelia, Champion and water supplied by the Development Authority of New York.
Stephen A. Jennings, the service’s deputy public health director, said home care nurses are contacting each patient to make them aware of the emergency and to assess any needs that may result. A patient may request, for example, bottled water or assistance relocating to a residence outside of the city’s water distribution system that has water available. Mr. Jennings said the service will remain in “constant communication” with patients throughout the emergency.
Fort Drum spokesperson Julie Halpin says that due to the water issues in the city, the Army base switched over to their own supply last night and are now currently supplying the military base with water 100% drawn from Fort Drum wells.
Once the issue is resolved, Fort Drum will go back to the way they received their water before by partially mixing city water with their own water.
Halpin said there are no issues with water on Fort Drum.
At one point, water and public works crews were waiting for National Grid to identify the location of underground utilities before work could begin on fixing the problem, Mix said.
Residents must boil water before using it, citing low water pressure coming out of faucets, Mix said.
The city Fire Department is prepared as much as it can be under the situation if there is a fire, Chief Matthew R. Timerman said.
A water tanker task force has been organized from departments across the county sending their tankers to the city, he said.
Fort Drum has provided a tanker with 3,000 gallons of water and the Watertown Fire Department has an additional tanker with 750 gallons available.
Firefighters would make an initial attack if a fire broke out but would then have to hold back if a serious fire breaks out, the chief said.
“We’re really behind the eight ball if we have a serious fire,” Timerman said.
Samaritan Medical Center is closed today for patient appointments in all of its clinics and has gone into its “water loss protocol,” according to Samaritan’s website.
“We are following our water loss emergency operation plan as designed and have teams in place to help through this disruption in operations,” according to the website.
Samaritan also is reserving the use of water. The medical center is using bottled water and bags of ice for patients in the hospital. Laundry service has shut down for the day. Patients are only receiving bedside bathing. Appointments can be rescheduled at a later date.
Jefferson County closed its offices, except for the sheriff’s and highway departments, this morning.
City officials explained what to do to boil water.
Bring tap water to a rolling boil, boil for one minute, and cool before using. Or use bottled water certified for sale by the New York State Department of Health. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, washing dishes, brushing teeth, and preparing food until further notice.
The city water treatment plant has capacity to treat 15 million gallons a day. Upgrades to the plant and water mains have been underway recently, with millions in American Rescue Plan Act funds allocated to replacing smaller water mains that run under some city streets that experienced regular breaks.
This year the city allocated $6.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to nine water main projects, replacing pipes that date back more than 100 years. Over the course of the season 20,102 feet, or 3.8 miles of new steel pipe was expected to be installed.
According to city data, there have been more than 66 water main breaks over the years in the areas that are being updated.
In a statement Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul said she’s been briefed on the water main break.
“As the normal flow of potable water is expected to run out soon, we are in the process of deploying emergency water to Watertown residents. I have directed the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation to work closely with local and federal officials. The State Emergency Operations Center has been activated and staff from DHSES, DEC and DOH are currently on the ground to ensure the safety of the Watertown community,” she said. “We are evaluating water distribution systems and moving valves from Fort Drum to assist in the water restoration efforts. The Health Department is ensuring the continuation of health care services and the State Education Department contacted local school districts to send students home early.
“I urge residents to closely follow local direction regarding boil water notices and efforts to conserve water. Jefferson County is deploying Reverse 911 cell phone alerts to all residents. My top priority will always be the safety of New Yorkers,” Hochul added.
