UPDATE: Gatewood water-main leak leads to emergency work

4:47 PM: Thanks for the tip! We found that Seattle Public Utilities crew wrapping up at 41st and Webster after some research following a report that water was out near 35th/Webster. SPU explains that a water main in the area was leaking, so to prepare for full repairs, they had to turn the water off for a while today and do some rerouting. This is the notice SPU said it had sent out:

On Friday, February 14, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) crews will disconnect a water main in your neighborhood that is leaking underground. The broken water main will remain out of service until a permanent repair can be made.

To continue providing you with water service while plans for the repair are made, your water service will be connected to a nearby water main in the adjacent pressure zone. The water pressure in the adjacent zone is lower than what you may have experienced in the past, but still within the acceptable range of 65 to 70 PSI.

The change in your water pressure will remain in effect until a repair can be made to the broken water main.

ANTICIPATED IMPACTS
An emergency water shutdown on February 14
A reduction in water pressure.
Construction activity near the work site

The crew told us they’d just turned the water back on. No word so far how many customers are affected or when the permanent work will be done.

8:56 PM UPDATE: SPU’s Sabrina Register tells WSB, “Today’s work affected about 70 customers … Roughly a dozen customers could experience lower water pressure.” No time frame yet for the permanent fix.

7 Replies to "UPDATE: Gatewood water-main leak leads to emergency work"

  • Michael B February 14, 2020 (5:15 pm)

    Do you know if the water turned back on was supposed to be for the full outage area? We’re still dry at 37th and Webster. 

    • WSB February 14, 2020 (5:26 pm)

      The crew told us they had turned it back on. I’d advise calling SPU at 206-386-1800 – you should get a live person.

  • Michael B February 14, 2020 (6:28 pm)

    Thanks.  Water just came back on. 

    • Janet February 14, 2020 (11:38 pm)

      We have brown water at 40th between Webster and Othello at 11:30 pm

  • Sukie February 14, 2020 (8:36 pm)

    We noticed our water pressure was low today on Austin so we’re definitely part of the impact zone.

  • WSB February 14, 2020 (9:01 pm)

    I checked back with SPU and they confirmed everyone’s water should be back by now. Added a bit more info above.

  • Sukie February 15, 2020 (2:38 pm)

    I called SPU because ever since yesterday our water pressure has been a dribble. The woman I spoke with said that work should only impact customers on Webster so they are sending someone out to check our main. It might be a long shot that anyone on Austin is reading comments but if you are, just an FYI in case you too are dealing with this issue.

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