Water Main

As of yesterday morning, the utility that oversees the crumbling water system in Montgomery and Prince George's counties wasn't going to receive a dime in federal stimulus grants because the state had decided the two Washington suburbs were too wealthy. But by the end of the day, state officials promised to reconsider their funding formula after an outpouring of complaints from local officials and members of Maryland's congressional delegation. Under current state plans, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC)

NOW THAT the restrictions on water use have been lifted, I've got a lot of heavy hosing to do.Most of it will be serious, task-oriented watering. But I must admit that, like a lot of backyard types, I have been known to indulge in occasional bouts of recreational spraying.This week, for example, shortly after news broke that Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening had lifted the nearly monthlong restrictions prohibiting washing cars, watering lawns and hosing down sidewalks, I searched for my old friend, the pistol-grip nozzle.

Three Pasadena schools shut down by a water main break yesterday are to open again today, school officials said.Bodkin Elementary, Chesapeake Middle, and Chesapeake High schools, all on Mountain Road, were closed early Tuesday after water was found gushing from an 8-inch main that served all three buildings.Pub Date: 9/22/99

A water main break last night on Main Street in downtown Sykesville lifted the asphalt roadway several inches, broke it in several locations and cut off water to an unknown number of businesses and homes in the Carroll County community.A county fire board dispatcher said the break was reported at 8: 50 p.m. and that utility repair crews were on the scene. "We received about 10 calls," the dispatcher said.L It was not immediately known when service would be restored.Jeff Morsberger, a bartender at E. W. Beck's Pub in the 7500 block of Main St., said the break was in front of the pub and that the force of the water lifted a large portion of Main Street nearly a foot.

From dawn to dusk yesterday, scores of residents from water-damaged houses in East Baltimore lined up for food and clothing vouchers while public officials tried to figure out the cause of one of the worst water main breaks in city history.City crews tore down another three houses and worked on the ruptured 60-year-old pipe that is part of an extensive but aging water supply system for Baltimore and much of the surrounding area.More than half of the city-run, 3,500-mile water system is made up of the same unlined, cast-iron pipes as the 5-foot main that burst early Saturday morning, prompting an emergency evacuation of 83 people in the Greenmount East neighborhood.

Lisha Moore cried all morning, and then she collected herself, her nieces and her son, and went back to the street where she had lived almost all her life to watch the city bring her house down. She took a few pictures, thought about her mother and her religion and then turned her back on the dusty pile of boards and brick, all that was left of the 800 block of E. 20th St.By noon Friday -- almost exactly a week after a 5-foot water main burst in the middle of Homewood Avenue -- the last of the 15 houses swept off their foundations by the raging tide had been demolished.

Nomia Crudup plans to be there today when her life comes tumbling down.Crudup's home, at 1903 Homewood Ave., is one of 12 houses slated to be demolished as a result of damage caused by a water main break. Yesterday, Crudup stood outside her home as relatives and friends waited to move some of her belongings onto a city truck."Nineteen-o-three was more than just a house," said the 50-year-old Crudup. "I grew up there, I got married in that living room, and 29 years ago I brought my newborn son home to that house.

WITH THIS summer's heat cranking up, it's hard to complain when a steady stream of cool water gushes onto city streets offering an oasis for tired toes.Except when the liquid has been spouting from a hydrant for more than a month.That's the situation at North Avenue and Howard Street, where commuters along one of Baltimore's main east-west drags have been subjected to a little splish-splash each day thanks to the leaking fireplug.It seems city Department of Public Works bureaucrats opened the North and Howard hydrant after the disastrous May 10 explosion of a 5-foot water main on Homewood Avenue.

About 100 city employees inspected houses, worked on pipes and removed the rubble of razed homes yesterday in the Greenmount East neighborhood, flooded over the weekend by a ruptured water pipe.In the midst of the work, a few residents scurried into their condemned homes to salvage what they could before further demolition begins today. Others stood and watched the commotion.But mostly, they marveled at the aftermath of a water main break that for several hours transformed their neighborhood into a makeshift river.

Lothian Elementary School will reopen today after the repair of a water main that broke Sunday, forcing the first closing in recent memory because of a facilities problem."

Chances are, you don't spend a lot of time thinking about the intricate system of underground pipes that bring us drinking water, carry away sewage and ensure that rainstorms don't leave us waterlogged. That is, of course, unless you've found your home flooded or your commute blocked by thousands of gallons of water gushing into the streets. For those who have yet to be directly affected, the problem was recently highlighted in WYPR's series "Drip, Drip, Drip: The Crisis That's Out of Sight and Out of Mind."

Cardin calls for Senate infrastructure investment Just days after a water main break caused major flooding near Baltimore, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin has called on the Senate to invest more in America's infrastructure. Cardin said Tuesday that the rupture of a 6-foot water main in Dundalk was a reminder that infrastructure here "is in dire straits." The water flooded homes and businesses, washed out a main road and turned other streets into rivers, stranding dozens of people. He said the situation in Maryland caused by infrastructure that has outlived its 50-year-life span is not unique.

Dundalk commuters on their way to work today are expected to have few traffic difficulties despite partial closure of Broening Highway after Friday's water main break, police said Sunday. The highway will be closed for two to four weeks while repairs to the road and water main are made. The highway areas affected are from Logan Village to Interstate 695 and the highway exit from the Beltway. Detours have been set up to accommodate east- and westbound traffic across the Key Bridge, officials said.

Baltimore County crews pumped the last of the floodwaters from dozens of basements in the Dundalk area Saturday as residents and officials took stock of the damage from a major water main break, the latest sign of what one public works spokesman called a national "infrastructure crisis." About 100 homes were flooded and hundreds more lost power when a type of large water main with a history of failure ruptured between Dundalk Avenue and Broening Highway during rush hour Friday. The resulting geyser caused a section of the highway to collapse and sent water cascading into the Baltimore County communities of Logan Village, Turners Station and Water's Edge.

Water gushed for hours Friday from a broken 6-foot-wide water main in Dundalk, flooding the communities of Turner Station, Logan Village and Water's Edge, swamping a shopping center, washing out a main road to the southeastern Baltimore County peninsula and stranding dozens inside and outside their homes. No injuries or deaths were immediately reported, but the Baltimore County Fire Department reported that two people were transported to the hospital with "minor complaints." Emergency crews used boats to rescue a few "people who went out in the water, which we asked them not to do," said Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. Dozens of homes were believed to have flooded basements, as water crested at heights reaching car door handles before flow stopped about 6:30 p.m., two hours after the pipe broke under a knoll between Dundalk Avenue and Broening Highway.

The problem:: A road needed repairs after a water main break in Pikesville. The back story:: Poor follow-through after a water main break in July grated on Tremella Logan's nerves - and the undercarriage of her car. Workers repaired the water main in the 1100 block of Scotts Hill Drive, but they failed to notice the leak had caused the roadway to bubble across the street, right in front of her driveway. "I just can't believe how they left the street," Logan said. "Whenever I back in or pull in, my car scrapes.

Water limits for city and county lifted after repairs 2 Mandatory curbs on outdoor water use in the northwestern sections of Baltimore City and Baltimore County have been lifted after the completion of water main repairs. A voluntary ban on filling pools, washing cars and watering lawns was imposed July 16 when heat and dry weather increased the demand for water just as utility crews took a key 54-inch water main out of service for preventive maintenance. The ban became mandatory the next day as the water in storage tanks continued to drop.

Dry weather, soaring demand for water and water main repairs have combined to force city water managers to ask 150,000 residents in Northwest Baltimore and Baltimore County to shut off their sprinklers and curb their water consumption for up to a week. If they don't, officials said, "mandatory restrictions may be required." There is plenty of water in the region's three reservoirs. Abundant spring rains topped them off before the dry weather began in mid-June. But repair work at four places along a 54-inch water main have made it more difficult to pump water from filtration plants to the holding tanks that serve customers in the northwest section.

The water main breaks that closed major Baltimore streets and disrupted rail service in April also washed away sizable chunks the city's budget. Fixing the 20-inch main that ruptured at Gay and Lombard streets on April 28 cost $222,523, according to figures from the city's finance department. That does not include thousands of dollars in police and fire overtime, or the lost work of city employees sent home because there was no water service in their buildings. The city spent $69,258 to repair another water main break the next day, when a 36-inch pipe burst in Halethorpe and delayed Amtrak service on the eastern seaboard.

Baltimore recently had to shut down Lombard Street downtown due to a large diameter water main break snarling traffic throughout the downtown area. East Monument Street was shut down because of a sewer collapse. Perhaps a year or so back, Linwood Avenue in Canton shut down first at Fleet Street and later at Foster Avenue due to water main breaks causing the collapse of the intersections. And these are just the recent problems. The Inner Harbor, our city's lifeline to the tourism industry, brings a much needed stream of economic life to a place where a seemingly endless stream of trash flushed from storm drains floats into the harbor.