Denver Water issued a precautionary 24-hour boil advisory for people who live near a major water-main break in west Denver on Thursday morning.
Because of the loss of pressure, residents and businesses between West 10th Avenue and West 24th Avenue and Federal Boulevard and Tennyson Street need to boil their drinking water until at least this afternoon, said Denver Water spokeswoman Stacy Chesney.
Denver Water went door to door in the neighborhoods near Lakewood Gulch Park, Sanchez Park and east of Sloan’s Lake Park to notify residents of the boil advisory and to distribute drinking water until 10 p.m. Thursday, Chesney said.
Chesney said contractors working on a light-rail line to the western suburbs broke a 30-inch water main near Lakewood Gulch and Sanchez parks, cutting water service to homes in the neighborhood Thursday morning.
The broken main sent cascades of water down Lakewood Gulch from the break below a newly completed traffic bridge near Knox Court at West 12th Avenue.
The main is one of the larger conduits in the city’s water system. Denver Water rerouted water from other mains in the area to restore service to homes, spokesman Matt Bond said.
Contractors for Denver Transit Construction Group, which is building the West Corridor light-rail line from Denver to Lakewood and Golden, had just completed a bridge-widening project as part of their work preparing to lay track, spokeswoman Kathy Berumen said.
Chesney said a Denver Transit subcontractor will repair the main.
Nina Moody, who lives in the 1300 block of Knox Court, said she woke up about 9 a.m. and realized her taps were dry when her 3-year-old son, Robert Rubio, tried to flush the toilet.
She said she and her son had planned to go to the store but couldn’t because they could not shower. About noon Thursday, Robert was in his front yard playing, still dressed in his pajamas.
“It is kind of inconvenient,” Moody said. “We would have been dressed already.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
Boiling kills bacteria
What does a boil-water advisory mean?
Water-main breaks resulting in a loss of pressure can introduce disease-causing organisms into the water system. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms.
To be effective, the water must be allowed to boil for three minutes and then cooled before consumption, or use for making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes and food preparation, Denver Water said.
Denver Water will use the city’s emergency notification system to notify residents when tap water is safe to consume again.
For more information, call 303-893-2444.
