What's worse than being in a moderate drought, having a dwindling water supply, being on mandatory water restrictions, and having a water treatment plant that is in dire need of replacement?
Ask Randleman(NC) city manager Tony Sears and I bet his answer would be, "Having all of that and then have a 10 inch water main break!"
It happened overnight on Sunday directly in front of of the town's city hall. Randleman Police spotted a bulge in the road and found flowing water during the 6 am shift change. The water forced the asphalt to rise and sent water, rocks and dirt downstream in the middle of Hillary Street.
As crews worked to dig up the earth around the 10 inch water main, an estimated 200,000 gallons of precious, clear, drinkable, water flowed into the streets only to be reclaimed by the sewage system.
The cause of the failure of the pipe is speculated to be the off and on cold weather over the past week or so. The city manager told us the ground moves alot during the initial stages of colder weather putting extra pressure on the underground pipes.
There was at least one related failure of a 6 inch water main about a mile away. The city manager says that air pockets in the pipes after the original burst formed before the auxillary water supply was turned on.
The city of Asheboro just to the south of Randleman provides a back up water supply in the case of emergencies like this.
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