(Chelsea Update would like to thank City Manager Marty Colburn for this information.)
Update: The first test results of the Bac-T (bacteria testing) came out negative. The city submitted one more round of tests and will receive results tomorrow. Assuming it, too, is negative, the city will lift the Boil Water Advisory.
Chelsea had a significant waterline break on Wednesday afternoon that impacted the loss of water pressure within the city.
Residents are still under a “Boil Water Advisory” for consumable water. Otherwise, people can use the water.
Today, we have to take the second set of samples in this afternoon said City Manager Marty Colburn.
The city is still waiting for the results from tests sent to the lab yesterday. We expect after two series of tests, that we will get negative results of any contamination and the Boil Water Advisory will be lifted, he said.
The city is communicating through the Emergency Response communications system NIXLE, as well as posting on both the city web site and Facebook page.
“We are hopeful that the boil water advisory will be lifted Saturday,” Colburn said.
Wednesday afternoon the City of Chelsea experienced the loss of water pressure throughout the city. Calls started coming in quickly and the city staff from DPW and the PD started looking throughout the city for a location of where a water break occurred.
The office staff and PD Dispatch handled many calls and supported the communications placing notifications on-line, Nixle and communicating with the media. Updates were provided by the City Clerk throughout the evening.
Often identifying water breaks are obvious with water bubbling up and creating a mess. The water plant wells and pumps were in operation, so it was believed that the water break would be identified shortly, he said.
The break was eventually found at the corner of Sibley and M-52. The pipes are approximately 7’ feet deep. The water broke the surface down in a swell off the highway amongst trees and brush and flowed over to the MDOT storm drain within the swell (also hidden in brush) and went into Letts Creek.
Hence, the reason it was not easy to find, he said.
The break was isolated by valves, which brought back water pressure to the city.
City staff mobilized a crew and equipment. They opened up the hole, cleared the debris, brought in the trench box, constructed the pipe and materials to repair the line. The crew worked safely, efficiently and had it completed by 10:30 pm. Clean up ensued thereafter.
There was and is further clean-up required, but the 10” watermain is repaired. “These hidden breaks can be most frustrating to track down, but once identified, the city staff addressed it very well,” the city manager said.
“I was impressed by the leadership and operations of our new Water Superintendent John Powell,” Colburn said.
All City water has been restored. The Boil Water Advisory is still in effect until we receive two negative tests. This advisory is for the consumption of water. We will continue to update residents.
