Water,water everywhere
Residents wonder why leak went 3 days before being repairedCity of Gallup Water Department worker Isaac Frazier levels dirt in a hole in Viro Circle on Monday. A water leak that was spotted by area residents went three days before it was repaired by the city. — © 2008 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Gaye Brown de Alvarez
Staff writer

GALLUP — A city water main at the corner of Viro Drive and Aztec Drive broke Friday and water started seeping out into the intersection.

City water officials looked at it and decided the repair could wait until Monday, said Chris Kerley, a water technician for the city. He said the water was shut off Monday for the entire street so they could get the line repaired.

But Mary Thomason, who lives in the neighborhood, said she thought it should have been fixed earlier.

“You read everywhere that water is precious,” she said in a telephone interview. “And it just bothered me.”

She was also concerned about the freezing temperatures.

“This water was not just a trickle, it was actually running down the street to Clark Street where there is a drain,” she said.

By 10 a.m. Monday, a crew from the city of Gallup Water Department was hard at work fixing the break in the old cast iron line.

City employee Isaac Frazier was digging through the pavement to the old line with a backhoe while Chris Kerley and Thompson Becenti were getting ready to fix the water leak.

“We’ll probably put a repair clamp on it or replace it with a small piece,” Kerley said. “It all depends on what we find.”
He estimated it would take about three hours to repair, meaning Viro Drive water would be turned off until the leak is fixed.

Tuesday
November 18, 2008
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Water,water everywhere:
Residents wonder why leak went 3 days before being repaired

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