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CALCUTTA -- A water line break in Calcutta has left thousands from Calcutta, Glenmoor, Elkton and Lisbon without water for more than 24 hours after a contractor digging to install fiber optics into the ground struck and broke the water line on John Campbell Road close to the intersection to Township Line Road Monday morning.
Buckeye Water Superintendent John Gentile said the company was boring into the ground and ran into the 16-inch line that feeds all of Calcutta.
Gentile noted that the location of the water line was marked.
As of 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon Buckeye Water District employees who have been on the scene since about 10:30 a.m. on Monday were still working on restoring water to the thousands affected by the water outage including residents in Calcutta, Glenmoor, portions of Liverpool Township and other surrounding communities, the Columbiana County Career Center in Lisbon, Beaver Local Schools and The Federal Correction Institute in Elkton.
Multiple businesses affected by the break were closed on Monday with some including Beaver Local Schools remaining closed on Tuesday.
With both water towers --the one Irish Ridge Road and the one on Oakmont Road -- being nearly depleted of water, fire departments were asked by the Buckeye Water District to not use hydrants for all of St. Clair Township. If there were a structure fire during that time Liverpool Township Volunteer Fire Department and West Point Volunteer Fire Department will automatically respond to the scene with tankers with Newell, Chester and Negley fire departments on standby.
Gentile said the crew ended up replacing approximately 10 feet of 16-inch water line which was at an angle, so it involved putting in an 11.25-degree angle elbow which made the repair a little more difficult.
Around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, Gentile said the valve line was fixed, and he had the valve open nearly halfway because he must go slow on filling, so a pipe elsewhere doesn't break from pressure. He also noted that he had some of his crew members out in the Calcutta area all the way to the Lisbon area opening hydrants trying to get air out of the lines to avoid another break.
Gentile said they could use it only in an emergency, but he didn't know how much water they would get.
The water tanks were in the process of slowly been filled on Tuesday afternoon.
"My guys are out there now, and a lot of hydrants are starting to get water through them, but it's just a lot of miles of water lines that we have to fill, then we will get to the tanks," Gentile said. "We will go to the customers first and then we will start with whatever is left over from what the customers get to the tank and start filling the tank."
A boil order will be in place for when the water is restored for Calcutta, Glenmoor, St. Clair Township, state Route 7, West Point and Elkton.
Gentile said more than likely he will take samples Wednesday after the system is fully charged and then he should know within 24 hours after that if customers need to continue with boil order or if the order can be canceled.
Gentile said of all the phone calls he has received over this issue the majority of customers have been very understanding.
Gentile said the district is going to send an invoice for the cost of the repairs to the company whose contractor struck and damaged the line.
"Water is being restored now. Please be patient," Gentile said. "We are doing our best to get everyone back into safe potable water and I would thank all the customers for their patience."