UPDATE: Water break near Schmitz Park

| Utilities | West Seattle news

6:49 PM: Thanks for the tip and photo. Seattle Public Utilities is at the scene of a water break at 51st and Spokane. The SPU water-outage map says 36 customers have lost water as a result. Even if your water is still oh, problems like this might cause discolored water for others nearby.

8:27 PM: Still out, per map. And we’ve heard via comment and email from people as far as half a mile away who are seeing discolored water as a result.

10:25 PM: Water’s back on. Commenter Jen says it came back around quarter till 10; the map says everyone was back by 10:05 pm. (If you’re not, be sure to notify SPU at 206-386-1800.)

Dick Miller October 21, 2020 (8:09 pm)

Thanks for the post. We just noticed that our cold water has a rusty color, and now we know why.

Kim October 21, 2020 (8:28 pm)

Thanks for the info! We noticed yellow-ish water coming from all of our taps around 5:30pm or so. We are at 44th and Hanford

John Smith October 21, 2020 (9:43 pm)

For the gentle reader who has never worked in a ditch as part of a pipe crew:Water main leaks/breaks are usually more serious than water service line leaks. The main is like you think: it’s the big pipe. A water service line is a smaller (much smaller, usually) pipe that goes from the main to an individual property.A water main leak/break is more serious than a service line break/leak because of the relative amount of water: main big, service small.Repairing a main leak/break requires adjusting (closing) the valves (for the main) closest to the leak/break to reduce the water pressure/flow at the leak/break. Reducing/restricting the amount of water pressure/flow is done for several reasons: protecting existing infrastructure, allowing excavation at the leak/break, and allowing repairing the main leak/break.The goal is to use the (main) valves to restrict the pressure enough to keep positive pressure in the main (to prevent contamination/in-flow) while keeping the pressure low enough to allow repairs.How to respond if/when one’s water faucet is flowing brown water, or water of any color, is left as an exercise for the reader.

Jen October 21, 2020 (9:53 pm)

I live just down the street. Water came back on about 10mins ago.

WSB October 21, 2020 (10:25 pm)

Thanks for the update! The map is now updated too – it shows ‘restored” outages for a time, unlike the power-outage map. – TR

DiverLaura October 22, 2020 (11:45 am)

Our water was out a few days ago, randomly… down on 57th. I have to wonder if its related.

Johm Smith October 22, 2020 (9:13 pm)

DiverLaura, in the city limits of Seattle, water service is not (or at least is not supposed to be) randomly on or off. The relatively new name for the (old) Seattle Water Department is now Seattle Public Utilities, Water Line of Business. I suggest that you ask SPU about whether or not your water outage was related. The City can/will investigate the City’s responsibility, which begins and ends (depending on your perspective) at your property line. There is no charge for the investigation. You should not expect an immediate answer (although one may be available) from the person who answers the phone.

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