Waitsburg water system high-pressure incident

WAITSBURG — On Tuesday, November 4, Waitsburg’s public works staff and a contracted crew encountered issues while working on the city’s waterline. The city was working on two leaks, one on the corner of Coppei and Preston Avenues.

The repairs were on the same circulating line, and City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe stated that once certain valves were shut off, it created pressure zones, resulting in additional head pressure. At least one valve on the circulating water line failed due to age.

The city first heard from the Waitsburg School District, where the extreme water pressure resulted in non-functioning restrooms and leaking hot water tanks. Students were released early on Tuesday, and classes and parent-teacher conferences were cancelled for Wednesday due to sanitation concerns.

Residential damage included leaks from stressed seals and valves on appliances, such as dishwashers and washing machines. Most of the residential flooding was caused by hot water pressure relief valves releasing water.

The city issued a community update at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday on its website. It advised residents that the city’s water was safe to drink, as the problem did not involve any kind of source water contamination.

On Wednesday, the city held an emergency public meeting with information about the waterline issues. Hinchliffe estimated that at least 20 homes had been affected during the incident. He encouraged property owners to submit repair invoices to the city, which would accept them as long as needed.

Hinchliffe said the city’s insurance will cover most of the claims.

Mayor Marty Dunn stated that the water pressure had returned to normal and apologized for the inconvenience. “This wasn’t done because we didn’t know what we were doing. It was just something that accidentally happened,” he said.