PORT ANGELES — Although repair of a service line has restored water service to 35 homes in the Golf Course Road area, another 135 are likely to remain without water until Tuesday at the latest after an outage that affected some 540 connections.
A 20-inch concrete main line down in a valley on a hillside off Monroe Road broke in two places on Saturday morning, cutting off water to 170 homes, two assisted living complexes and a mental health care facility in the Golf Course Road area, and putting 318 homes under a boil-water advisory in the Mount Angeles Road area.
City staff went door-to-door offering residents cases of bottled water on Saturday, said Michael Healy, interim public works director, on Sunday. Arrangements for showers and non-potable water also were made.
While city crews were able to fix a service line, because of the location of the main water pipe, repair will require a larger piece of equipment with a longer reach on the boom than the city has available, Healy said.
A contractor is expected to arrive late Monday or early Tuesday, Healy said.
“If everything goes well, we should be back sometime on Tuesday,” he said.
The city website gives Wednesday as the date for service restoration.
City staff are offering non-potable water between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily at the intersection of East Fifth Street and Golf Course Road. The water can’t be consumed but can be used for such household activities as bathing and toilet flushing. Residents must bring their own containers, such as buckets and jugs.
In addition, arrangements have been made with Shore Aquatic Center, at 225 E. Fifth St., for customers impacted by the water outage to shower at no charge.
“All they have to do is say they are part of the water outage,” Healy said.
The pool is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The cause of the break is unknown, but Healy said the pipe is located on a fault line and in a rocky area.
“When a pipe is in a location such as that, any shift in soil can tweak it,” Healy said.
Following the repair, the water main will be disinfected and flushed, and the city will take water samples to ensure safety. Until test results have been received, those affected by an outage are under advisories to bring drinking or cooking water to a rolling boil for one minute to kill bacteria and other organisms that may have been introduced into it.
Those who find brown water running out of their faucets are urged to flush the water lines by running the water in a bathtub or faucet until it runs clear.
Any residents who did not lose water service or experience low pressure on Saturday do not need to boil their water.
For more information, check the city website or call 360-417-4800 — 360-417-4726 after hours or on weekend — or email publicworks@cityofpa.us.
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Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
