The Town of Pembroke's Recent Water Main Break Prompts Improvement in Communication, Water Syste
At 3:30, this was the scene at the corner of Harry West Lane and Lowry Street, yesterday, as Public Works crew members were hard at work one road over and water continued to rush through this fire hydrant into the road.
Yesterday, the town's water main burst, leaving the university and local businesses and restaurants with low water pressure.
According to Pembroke's Town Manager, Tyler Thomas, at 11:00 a.m., customers reported that they were experiencing water loss.
At 12:32 p.m., students received an email that read "Bravenation: The Town of Pembroke has informed us of a water main break. As a result, a few buildings on campus may be experiencing water loss, and some buildings may experience a loss of water pressure in the coming hours."
Thomas attributed the cause of the water main break to the age of the lines.
"The waterline that broke was a 12 inch water main. The bottom of the pipe eroded and the top of the pipe cracked," Thomas said.
"A fifteen foot section had to be replaced," he added.
The Public Works crew worked tirelessly to repair lines on Normal Street yesterday afternoon.
Crew members could be seen standing in a large trench repairing the lines around 3:30 p.m.
At 3:58 p.m., students received an email with the news they had anticipated all day.
The email read as follows: "Bravenation: The Town of Pembroke water system has been repaired. Water pressure should return to normal shortly. Thank you for your patience."
Thomas said that the Town of Pembroke is in the process of "pursuing a water system inventory and assessment grant to survey and analyze the condition of all water infrastructure so as to more systematically address issues such as old water lines."
Additionally, the town is also working to create a "digital community alert system" so that communication can be handled more efficiently and updates can be disseminated quicker.
