Vacant South Philadelphia property pipe leak creates 8-inch deep "pond" in nearby business lot
A water pipe has been leaking for almost a year behind a warehouse in South Philadelphia, and there's so much water that it has ruined part of the lot at a nearby business.
From the front of the M&M Design warehouse on Maiden Lane, not far from the Schuylkill River, it might just look like some puddling or runoff, but out back tells a different story.
A leaking pipe on the vacant property behind the longtime signage company is flowing into their lot and has flooded most of their side driveway. At its deepest, the water is about 8 inches. General manager John Belfie hasn't been able to get trucks, deliveries, or his forklift back there for months.
"It's a nuisance," Belfie said. "It takes extra time, you know? More manpower."
Belfie said water has been leaking for almost a year. In the winter, the entire side lot and down onto the street was a sheet of ice.
About 20 feet behind Belfie's fence, a CBS News Philadelphia drone captured where the water is coming up from the ground. The water has been running down into Belfie's lot nonstop for at least 11 months.
"It's actually forming its own little pond," Belfie said, pointing out the moss and algae building up around his property.
Belfie says he first alerted the Philadelphia Water Department in October 2025.
"They won't come and stop the water because it's not their property to come on," he said.
A Philadelphia Water Department spokesperson says they sent the property owner a violation notice in June 2025 and that "the suspected source of the leak is a privately owned vacant pipe, and initial efforts to work with the property owner have been unsuccessful in resolving the issue."
Out front on Maiden Lane, water gushes into the storm drain 24/7.
CBS News Philadelphia searched public records, but the property the pipe is on did not match an account.
CBS News Philadelphia asked the city and the water department who owns the property. They haven't answered that question yet, but after the inquiry, the Philadelphia Water Department said they inspected the site Thursday and were unable to pinpoint the source and fix the issue.
Belfie and his staff work in the middle of a flowing stream of wasted water.
