Dundalk residents want a permanent fix after influx of water main breaks

Dundalk residents say their community has experienced four water main breaks since May, and they are frustrated with the damage left behind.

They want the Department of Public Works to do more to prevent future breaks.

Video shared with CBS News Baltimore shows the streets in Dundalk's Rosewald Beach neighborhood flooded. The most recent water main break happened on Wednesday, July 29. Water was restored to the community Thursday afternoon.

Dundalk neighbors left with significant flooding

The water main breaks are causing significant flooding, which neighbors say is damaging their homes, cars, and the roads. They say repair work is patchwork, and they are hoping for more permanent solutions.

"You have to ask yourself, 'What water main is going to break today? What road can I go down? What's going to be damaged in my house? Are we going to have water today?'" Alex Ahmer told WJZ. "It's on a monthly basis. This has been three months, and there have been four of them just in one block."

Neighbors said they feel like their community has been forgotten about and overlooked.

"I feel like it's just not being made a priority, and I feel like that probably needs to change," Casey Ahmer added.

When breaks happen, neighbors not only lose water for hours, but they also deal with water damage in their homes. 

A neighbor said they had significant basement damage and they had to replace their water heater because it was damaged by standing water.

Neighbors say the roads are also left in disarray.

"I feel like they don't take it seriously because it's just like, 'Oh, here's another call for a water main break,'" Alex Ahmer said. "It's just another thing for them. For us, this is where we live at."

DPW investigating cause of water main breaks

DPW called this year an anomaly for Dundalk, saying the town has had more water main breaks than normal. It says it is investigating what is causing the damage.

"One thought is because of so much activity in the area," said Bryan Samuels, the Utility Maintenance Division Chief for Baltimore City's Department of Public Works. "Dundalk is at the end of a system, so we would get with the county and see if there's anything that we can do in conjunction with them."

DPW says it has scouts on the streets surveying the damage and has crews respond as quickly as possible when a main breaks. It says the breaks could be caused by old infrastructure, soil temperatures changing or even increased stress on the system.

"It's been a high concern all this week," Samuels said. "It's been elevated to the chief engineers, so hopefully we'll get you something, some real strong data next week, and some targeted things we could do."

The agency is also collecting data to come up with a solution to stop them in the future. 

Neighbors said they are tired of seeing a river out their window and want a fix now.

"I hope that the county or the city, whoever has to fix the water mains, actually comes out and fixes the rest of the water mains, so we don't have another break," Casey Ahmer said. "I also hope that the road is all the way repaved from one end to the other."

In the event of a water main break, DPW says to call 311 in Baltimore City or the emergency hotline.