Crews still working to fix break in 134-year-old Minneapolis water main pipe
MINNEAPOLIS – Crews are still working to fix a major water main break in north Minneapolis.
After the break at 2nd Street North and 29th Avenue North, the city issued a boil water warning for about 80 homes and an apartment building that are within a third-mile radius.
"The water main that broke yesterday is a 36-inch cast iron pipe. That main has been serving the city since 1888," said Minneapolis Public Works Director Margaret Kelliher.
The big break cut off water to a nearby business park, and water pressure across much of Minneapolis was impacted Monday night. But, public works officials say only those in the designated boil advisory area need to take precautions.
"Some people in the city may be experiencing brown water, rust-colored water, yellow water and that water is still safe. It's just got mineral deposits in it," Kelliher said.
Annika Bankston is director of the city's water treatment and distribution services.
"We were able to determine this by running our detailed hydraulic model of the water main break and conservatively estimating where those pressures fell below that threshold," Bankston said.
Crews have dug up the broken pipe and are working to get water out of the hole so they can begin repairing and replacing it. Only then will they be able to determine what caused it to break in the first place.
"We're evaluating system operating pressures at the time of the break, and then once we are able to get the pipe section that was damaged out and look at it in detail, we'll be able to perform a better assessment on what specifically happened," Bankston said.
Crews are expected to have the repairs completed early Wednesday morning. Water samples are expected to clear the boil advisory at some point Wednesday, with full service restored in the coming days.
