Breaking water mains

Twice last week the city of Lynchburg’s Department of Water Resources issued a boil water notice for Liberty University and the surrounding area on Friday, Feb. 10. During construction, a water line was hit on Liberty’s campus.

“What happened was a contractor working for Liberty hit a water line on campus. It was a main line for the city that runs right through the campus,” Director of Water Resources Tim Mitchell said. “We had to try and isolate the area of the break which was most of the Fort Avenue areas around the mall and surrounding neighborhoods.”

Liberty’s campus was affected by the water contamination, as the first break occurred on campus. Students received warnings through email, text messages and via campus leadership.

“Our water was out for two days,” Mary Leigh Hatcher, a residential freshman at Liberty, said. “We found out through our prayer leader and had to boil our water that night. The next day we stocked up on bottled water because we were unsure when the water would be safe to drink again.”

Other students living off campus, and away from the impacted areas, were less affected.

“I found out about the water contamination through a friend. Even though I live off campus, I still used bottled water and filtered my water,” junior Melissa Kaleta said. “It didn’t really affect me personally.”

Although many areas did not experience any issues, approximately 200 homes in the area were affected, along with local restaurants and businesses, according to the Department of Water Resources. The affected areas experienced water discoloration, low water pressure, and water service disruptions.

“Restaurants were affected more than anyone else because they couldn’t use their fountain machines. They had to boil any water that they used in cooking and they also used bagged ice,” Mitchell said.

Several of the restaurants were asked to be cautious. According to Mitchell, Shakers, a restaurant near Liberty’s campus, discovered the issue when they saw water discoloration. Shakers, along with many other affected restaurants, had to purchase bottled water, bagged ice and canned soda in order to avoid any dangers.

“We had to take precautions just like anyone else under the advisory by either boiling water or serving bottled water,” Shakers Restaurant Manager David Sonnen said. “We let our customers know of our situation when they walked through the door, and allowed them to choose if they would dine with us, and most if not all still chose to eat there.”

“We also weren’t able to serve fountain drinks. Apparently, it affected not only the water, but also the drinking machines. We served tea that we made using boiled water,” he said.

The advisory was lifted on Sunday, Feb. 12. The Department of Water Resources was very cautious in lifting the notice.

“The contractor who first hit the line fixed the issue,” Mitchell said. “Tests were run at various locations to make sure the water was safe to drink again. We ran two different tests, and each test takes 24 hours to get the results. We were able to safely rescind the notice on Sunday.”

Then, on Tuesday, Feb. 14, pressure on the water mains in the Rivermont and Boonsboro Road areas built up and broke the lines. According to a release from the City of Lynchburg, the Department of Water Resources had to issue a “boil water notice” for nearly 200 homes affected by the breaks. These breaks could cost around $20,000 to repair, according to the Department of Water Resources.

The Department of Water Resources was able to isolate each break individually and limit the damage. The lines will be flushed to prevent the spread of any possible contamination.