Olean water cleared for use after main break, repairs

City Editor

A water main break on North First Street has been repaired and a boil water advisory for the city was lifted on Monday, city officials reported.

OLEAN — Olean’s boil water advisory has been lifted, Mayor Bill Aiello said Monday, capping off a weekend of headaches for city officials, businesses and residents.

The mayor said the advisory was lifted after testing reported at 3:30 p.m. Monday indicated the water was safe for consumption again after an 18-inch water main was damaged by a construction crew.

“We were very fortunate that we didn’t totally lose water throughout the city,” Aiello said, noting the line is one of the primary conduits for moving potable water from the water treatment plant in North Olean.

Aiello said a crew working under contractor D&H Excavating of Arcade was digging in front of 217 N. First St. to restore a storm sewer drain during repaving work when workers struck an 18-inch water main at about 1:50 p.m. Friday. A 5-foot-long crack in the pipe released thousands of gallons of water into the street and ground around the break until it could be isolated — often by using rusted valves and even opening fire hydrants to decrease pressure.

It took about 17 hours to repair the line, the mayor said, with the water back on at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Water service was lost in several neighborhoods, while pressure was decreased for many other city water users. A boil water advisory was put in place due to the lost pressure and concerns over contamination.

The mayor credited the DPW and the water distribution division, as well as aid from city police and fire crews, and NYSEG sending a team to make sure gas lines were not damaged in the incident or repair efforts.

“Our guys did a great job,” Aiello said, noting they eventually cut out 5 feet of the pipe and replaced it with a new section and stainless steel clamps. “They worked late into the morning to get that.”

The pipe was replaced by about 3:30 a.m. Saturday, with the service restored around 6:30 a.m.

Brad Camp, the city’s water superintendent, reported that the advisory was standard procedure to make sure the municipal water was safe for consumption. A similar advisory was issued for parts of East Olean in July after a water main break at the corner of Clark and East State streets.

“Once the repair was made we had to flush any air or sediment out of the lines,” Camp said, as well as testing water for E. coli and other coliform bacteria, which can lead to illness. Such tests came back negative Monday afternoon. “Testing was done all over the city to ensure we were good system-wide.”

Some users noted a chlorine smell from water on Monday, which Camp said was put in the water at the same levels as normal for disinfection.

“It may be more noticeable because of how fresh the water is,” he added.

The boil water advisory was in effect for about 74 hours.

Aiello said the city’s insurance company has been put on notice, and claims for water damage may be submitted to city hall.

“There was a lot of water that went into other people’s basements,” the mayor said, but it was partially mitigated after the city moved a trailer-based water pump to direct the flow into the storm sewer. “It was pumping it out as fast as it was filling up.”

The DPW is investigating the exact cause of the damage, and whose insurance will be tapped to pay for the damage.

(Contact City Editor Bob Clark at [email protected].)

City Editor

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