Water service restored in Elrama
Water was flowing freely from taps in Elrama Tuesday after residents of the Mon Valley community were without service for nearly five days following a water main break last week.
“It felt really good to take a shower, shave and shampoo this morning,” said Ron Capicotto, who lives at 26 Elrama Ave., near the Elrama Volunteer Fire Department, which sustained significant damage after the nearby 48-inch main erupted Friday night.
A power surge caused a depletion of storage at a tank near the water treatment plant in Elrama, affecting about 95,000 Pennsylvania American Water customers in Washington and Allegheny counties who were under a boil water advisory until Monday morning. The advisory was lifted after water samples taken Saturday and Sunday were negative for bacterial contamination.
For those who lost their water service altogether, bottled water was the order of the day, though Capicotto used a little ingenuity when it came to handling some household functions that required water.
“I melted snow,” he said Tuesday. “I bought water to drink and cook with, but for the commodes I melted snow.”
Allen Powell, who lives at 10 Elrama Ave, expressed relief Tuesday to have his water restored.
“It’s a good day, with the pipe finally being fixed,” he said. “It’s been a long three or four days.”
Powell said his daughter brought him some water to flush toilets, and he was able to refill jugs at the Union Township Municipal Building, which offered free cases of water. Staff and volunteers from the township also went door-to-door to deliver water to those in need.
“I’m able to do dishes, clothes and get back to normal life instead of the fiasco that we’ve had,” Powell said. “I think those guys have done one hell of a job. I know they’ve had different crews, but still to be out here in minus 3 degrees to try to repair something major like that.”
Michalle Dupree, chair of the Union Township supervisors, said bottled water would be available at the municipal building until Friday.
“Some people are still a little nervous because the water is cloudy,” she said. “We’re going to keep them there until Friday, just in case something else happens. We got confirmation from the water company that we can donate the pallets of water to the food pantries that are local after all is said and done.”
Crews continued to work Tuesday at the fire company in an effort to get the fire house at 17 Elrama back up and running.
The department’s garage took on about four feet of water Friday night, and the social hall also started to flood. A few members of the department were briefly trapped inside.
“They were going to try to come out the window, but it was frozen shut,” fire Chief Matt Salim said. “It was filling up in the garage because there were no doors open for water to go anywhere. They opened the one door, water came in and it lowered the level, so they went out the side door. They still walked through water. Nobody got hurt. That’s all that mattered. Everything else can be replaced.”
Salim said structural engineers will visit this week, and renovations already have begun.
“The adjusters are here and an insurance claim has been filed,” Salim said. “It’s still in the process of evaluating everything.”
The Union Township Municipal Building is serving as the company’s temporary fire house. All of the company’s vehicles were damaged, but Salim did say one of the trucks was being tested Tuesday to be returned to service.
“We’ll have one of our trucks back, along with a truck we got on loan from Elizabeth Township,” Salim said. “The community never lost fire protection, plus we have mutual aid with Jefferson Hills right down the street. They’re still on all of our calls.”
State Rep. Andrew Kuzma surveyed the scene Tuesday and said his office has been involved from the outset. He said he was pleased with the progress that has been made during the last few days.
“The firemen have been phenomenal, the residents have been phenomenal, and Pennsylvania Water has been very responsive and has been as cooperative as they possibly could be under the circumstances, getting overnight crews here to fix it in negative temperatures,” Kuzma said. “Insurance adjusters are here. I think we’ll be able to come up with a good resolution.”
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