The water is back on as of Thursday evening after a water main break occurred Wednesday afternoon near the intersection of 22nd Avenue and 23rd Street, according to City Public Works Director Chuck Sliva.
Wednesday brought frustration as two water main breaks occurred along 23rd Street during the day. The first occurred near the intersection of 16th Avenue and 23rd Street. A crew ended up getting that one fixed Wednesday night, while another crew handled the subsequent one. Various factors resulted in the crew having to suspend work on the water main break near 22nd Avenue and 23rd Street on Wednesday night, but it resumed Thursday afternoon.
Sliva said he's appreciative of the public's patience and offered advice for customers getting their water running again.
"Customers may notice discolored water and some possible air. If so, please slowly run your cold water and it will clear up," he said.
The public works director said the first leak that occurred was caused by a stress fracture in the bell joint of the 12-inch water main. The one near 22nd Avenue and 23rd Street appears to be a stress crack in the 12-inch main, he noted.
Sliva said the causes for the breaks will be looked into to determine other possible related factors once all information is compiled.th
(ABOUT THE PHOTO: A crew works to fix a water main break on Thursday afternoon in Columbus.)