South Franklin Township residents without water for over 24 hours due to water main break

Some people in South Franklin Township, Washington County, have been without water for nearly 24 hours.

Bruce Graham said his water went out at 11 p.m. on Tuesday when his wife was baking.

"Extremely tough because I've got medical issues," Graham said. "I have colitis, and it makes it tough. We're just doing the best we can do."

Officials say the water outage impacting people along Route 18, Franklin Manor and McGuffey School District started with a water main break elsewhere.

South Franklin Volunteer Fire Department Chief Fred Hutson said he spoke with American Water, the supplier, about what is going on. 

"The water main break earlier in South Franklin Township, they were there earlier this morning and they got that repaired," Hutson said. "Since that was repaired, then they are saying there was a valve that went bad that caused the issue."

A water buffalo was placed outside the fire station on Wednesday. While some people have been without water for nearly 24 hours, Dave Ramsey said he learned to conserve water through having a bad well.

"I know what it's like," he said. "I used to have to take Navy showers. A Navy shower, you get in, you get wet, you shut the water off, soap up, turn the water back on, rinse off and you're done."          

He's making a little bit of water go a long way. Now his neighbors are learning to do the same.

"I'll make it last as long as I can," Graham said. "I just need that to flush the toilet."

American Water has an alert on its website that says it's estimated to be fixed by midnight on Thursday.