Surprise water system failure forces schools to close in Shawangunk; officials plan to replace aging infrastructure
The valves were determined to be at least 30 years old, town officials said, and other parts of the system are over a hundred years old.
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Wallkill Central Schools had to close down today and restaurant workers had to wash dishes with bottled water as contractors raced to repair several broken valves in the area's decades-old water system.
Contractors worked for nearly 48 hours to prevent a further chain reaction of valve failures in the Town of Shawangunk's aging water system.
Water was shut off from 9 p.m. Tuesday until Wednesday afternoon during repairs and replacements.
Town officials said contractors were first repairing a leaky valve on Viola Street.
Then, extra water pressure broke three more valves one block away.
The valves were determined to be at least 30 years old, town officials said, and other parts of the system are over 100 years old.
"It's going to be a big expense for the water district," Shawangunk Town Supervisor Ken Ronk said Wednesday afternoon.
Ronk said the valves were replaced without any further breaks in the system and that service was slowly turned back on to avoid any more breaks.
Ronk said the town is seeking state and federal funds to cover this repair — which could cost hundreds of thousands — and to upgrade the rest of the system over the next ten years.
"We're spending far more money to fix these problems than we would if we just budgeted to fix the lines the proper way," he said, "rather than fixing water main breaks, we should be replacing water lines."
At Pasquale's Pizza, staff has had to use bottled water for their sauce and to wash dishes.
"The water's important here," manager Bertin Placido said, "so we can make our sauce in here today, so hopefully, the water's coming back soon."
Wallkill Central Schools administrators first announced a two-hour delay for all schools due to the repairs not being finished in time, then a three-hour delay, and then a cancellation of all classes for the day.
"I just got come homework done too," Wallkill basketball player Julia Price said. "And the season's coming up, so I've just been practicing a little bit."
By Wednesday afternoon, service had been restored to nearly all customers, except for a section of Third Street where additional work is needed, Ronk said.
The town is advising all residents to boil water before consuming it for the next 48 hours.
