Burst Main Taints Water
Newcastle Herald
Monday July 5, 2004
REPAIR work will begin in Hamilton North this morning after a burst water main gouged a giant hole in the pavement and sent dirty drinking water through the plumbing of homes from Merewether to Adamstown.
Hunter Water customer service manager Belinda Jones said a 60 centimetre supply main ruptured about 7am near Smith Park off Griffiths Road, opening a hole more than 10 metres across and three metres deep.Supply mains carry water from pumping stations into the city, where it is distributed to homes and offices through a network of smaller pipes.Emergency crews isolated the break and re-routed the water, but in some suburbs its quality was affected by a brownish silt for the rest of the day .Ms Jones said Hunter Water had received "a number" of calls about the dirty water from residents in Hamilton, Cooks Hill, Merewether and other suburbs in the city's east.However, there had been no need to deliver bottled drinking water to affected properties."Most people are patient and just wait until the dirty water disappears," Ms Jones said.She said the biggest issue was usually for people who were unaware of the problem and put in a load of clothes for washing, only to pull them out to find they had been stained by the water.Hunter Water will consider compensating residents for additional laundering costs or if their clothes are permanently stained.Ms Jones said engineers would visit Smith Park today to determine the cause of the break before crews started repairs.Residents needing more information about the dirty water and their eligibility for compensation should call Hunter Water's emergency and service faults hotline on 1300 657 000.
© 2004 Newcastle Herald
