Water main break causes standing water outside Talbot Hall

A break in the water main caused an excessive amount of water outside of Talbot Hall this morning.

According to Stan Silverii, superintendent of Facility Services and Project Management, a valve that was installed for the Talbot Hall project’s gasket material blew up and started the leak.

“We noticed a small amount of water Wednesday evening and by Thursday it had gotten worse,” Silverii said. “This was the city water line, not the University’s.”

A contractor from the city excavated it and as they did so, it disturbed the valve and had gotten worse, so they called the city in. The city and the contractor worked together to fix the problem. This morning there was more water.

“They worked till about 8 last night,” Silverii said. “There might have been some trash between the gasket and pipe and had a small leak, so they had to come back this morning and replaced that clamp.”

The city and the contractor worked together again this morning and the leak has been stopped. Being that it was only the city side of the meter, the University won’t have to expend any finances or labor.

Silverii said everything should be put back together Tuesday.

“The city’s going to be out here tomorrow, they’re going to clean the mud off the streets for us and get it back to the condition it was in before,” Silverii said.