Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Second leak ties up traffic

Soon after county crews fixed the water main on U.S. 19, another leak appeared near Curlew Road. Repairs are set to start Thursday.

By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published January 11, 2006

PALM HARBOR - After a week of repairs, a leaky water main along U.S. 19 continues to inconvenience tens of thousands of motorists and 1,500 nearby residents.

The culprit: a 36-inch-wide water main pipe on U.S. 19 between State Road 580 and Curlew Road. A portion of the 13-mile pipe just south of Curlew sprang a leak in late December.

On Jan. 3, county utility workers turned off the water to the pipe for a few hours during an attempt to make repairs.

Even though the water was turned back on within hours, state health standards required the county to advise affected customers to boil their water until further notice.

The advisory affected businesses as well as homeowners.

After getting the advisory, Romano's Macaroni Grill, 28795 U.S. 19 N, closed its doors Jan. 3 and didn't open until Monday, when the boil water ban was lifted.

"Our policy is, we take no chances with our guests whatsoever," restaurant manager Kathe Biehl said. "Yes, we boil our water to make pasta, but what about when the cook has to wash his hands?"

Biehl said the restaurant usually gets 750 to 1,000 customers a day.

Two days after starting repairs, utility workers returned to complete the job. This time, they needed to close off one southbound lane on U.S. 19 about 100 feet south of Curlew Road. Water running to the pipe had to be switched off again, so officials extended the boil water advisory.

"The repair went smoothly," said Kevin Becotte, assistant director of the engineering department for Pinellas County Utilities. "But because we had to turn off the water again, people needed to continue boiling their water."

That was until Monday.

The boil water advisory was rescinded. But it wasn't quite time to exhale.

On the same day, another leak in the pipe was discovered.

The second leak is about 32 feet north of the first one. Crews repaving the road noticed water bubbling up from the ground, Becotte said.

County officials still don't know why the pipe is having so much trouble. Forensic studies will have to be conducted on the pipe to make a clear determination, Becotte said.

"It is a 50-year-old pipe," Becotte said. "There could have been some settlement over the years. The ground is constantly shifting, and through differential settlement, a pipe can shift and things happen."

For some in the area, the leaky pipe saga hasn't caused too much of a headache. Others say it's been a mess.

"We just use bottled water," said Gerald Ericson, 67, a resident of Serendipity, a nearby age-restricted mobile home park. "We lost water on Thursday, but we'd plan to go out to dinner anyway."

A county utility crew will begin repairing the latest pipe leak Thursday, Becotte said.

An additional southbound lane has been closed on U.S. 19, used by 76,000 vehicles a day, to prepare the road for the work.

Becotte said the county is looking for alternatives to get water into the neighborhoods while repairs are being done on the pipe. Residents are advised to use water conservatively during the next few days.

The goal is to keep everyone's water on while repairs are made.

"It may be an ambitious goal," Becotte said, "but it's one of the things we're going to try to do."

Nicole Johnson can be reached at 727 445-4162 or njohnson@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 11, 2006, 00:41:19]