Will Aliquippa ever have water again? (Franklin, Sharpsburg: house, school district, living in)

[ditchdigger]

Crews still working to fix water line - Timesonline.com: Local News

ALIQUIPPA — Crews on Saturday had repaired one water main break and were in the process of fixing a second line that ruptured last week in Aliquippa.
Water authority General Manager Bob DiGiovine said Saturday evening that crews had found the second break at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Spring Street, but he was unsure how long it would take to fix it.

“We’re going to stay here until it’s done,” DiGiovine said.


A water line at Franklin Avenue and Spring Street broke Thursday afternoon, buckling pavement on the street above and leaving many city residents without water or with low water pressure. The second main broke less than 24 hours later, sometime overnight between Thursday and Friday.
Residents who are still without water can take containers to be filled at the city’s filtration plant at 160 Hopewell Ave.

I'm a resident of Hopewell, but we have Aliquippa Water Authority water. My water went out around 9:30 p.m. Friday night, and it's not back on yet. (It's pretty crappy water to begin with, but it just adds insult to injury to think that, when it does come back on, I'm going to have to run probably 100 gallons down the drain before it stops looking like coffee...)

[gg]

Ditch, sorry to hear about this. It is a shame anywhere in the US could go without water for that many days. When they do fix the problem they need to flush it out themselves, but guess what? They won't. Just like Sharpsburg when they have a water main problem the residents try and flush the water themselves, but it can take days before it clears up. I hate to say this, but one of the advantages in living in a more affluent area is water. On the other hand, East Liberty/Highland Park have pretty good water and there are plenty of poor areas around there.

Hope you get your water on soon and call them to have them flush it out at the hydrants. Of course they won't, but you could try to get them to do it.

[Uptown kid]

It's something that only 'Quip's housing projects & predominitly black areas are/have been completely out of water. *From what I've heard...
-poor old Alliquippa

[North Beach Person]

They'll have to repair the break and then recharge the system. Also likely is they'll have to run a full load through it to flush the lines and clear them of any sediment, or at least flush the hydrants. Also expect higher concentrations of chlorine/chloramine for a few days.

[Hopes]

Sorry to hear you're out of water for so long!

Contact your township commissioners and school district superintendant to encourage them to open up the school showers to residents without water. Even if your family can shower elsewhere, some residents could benefit from having the showers made available.

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

It's something that only 'Quip's housing projects & predominitly black areas are/have been completely out of water. *From what I've heard...
-poor old Alliquippa

As I said in the OP, I'm in Hopewell, but share the pain of being served (I use the term loosely) by the Aliquippa Water Authority.

They'll have to repair the break and then recharge the system. Also likely is they'll have to run a full load through it to flush the lines and clear them of any sediment, or at least flush the hydrants.

Oh, they systematically flush the lines a couple of times a year. And when they do, I lose service. One time, I came home four days in a row to no water service until it came back on around 9-10 p.m. It's always nice to be able to wash up before dinner.

To be fair, I'm probably as far from, and higher in elevation than, most Aliquippa customers, so I do understand that when bad things happen, or even rountine flushing, I'm going to lose service first, and get it back last.

That having been said though, it's not rocket science to provide cross-connections to adjoining water systems. I'm not sure where exactly the water systems begin and end, but I'm only a few blocks from Center Township, and their water distribution system. Open a valve up the road, and close one down the road to isolate the problem, and there's minimal service interruption. In this day and age, I find the lack of that sort of redundancy hard to forgive.

And while I'm always reluctant to play certain cards, in this case I'll make an exception and play the public safety card--Thank God my house hasn't caught fire this weekend.

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

It's something that only 'Quip's housing projects & predominitly black areas are/have been completely out of water.

Didn't know Hopewell was in that category!

[Kippy]

Do you think that the water will come back on before the impending power outages?

[ditchdigger]

I spoke with the water authority early this afternoon, and was told everything was repaired, and the system was filling back up, and that I could expect the water to be back on shortly. And it was!

It was.

After all the air and sludge ran out, it kinda ran, at least long enough to refill the toilet tank a couple of times, and then it quit again...

[Kippy]

It looks like you can stop boiling your water, assuming that you were alerted that you should be boiling your water in the first place:

Boil advisory lifted for Aliquippa residents - Timesonline.com: Local News