Denver Water crews worked overnight on a break in a 24-inch mainline pipe that flooded across eight blocks in northwest Denver on Sunday.
The agency is asking people to continue avoiding the area at West 45th Avenue and Perry Street as workers continue to repair the break.
Residents within a two-block radius of the break do not have access to water, though Denver Water estimates that the water should be turned back on Tuesday morning.
Work continued through the night after yesterday's 24-inch main break.
Please avoid the area.
— Denver Water (@DenverWater)
The break occurred at 7 a.m. Sunday and flowed until 11 a.m., flooding roads, cars and homes.
Remediation companies are in the neighborhood working with residents to clean up the flooding, Denver Water said.
The resulting flood filled low areas between West 46th Avenue and West 45th Avenue for eight blocks in the Berkeley neighborhood, stretching between Stuart and Osceola streets. The water partially submerged cars and reached up to the front doors of several homes.
One man bailed water from his porch with a bucket Sunday; others waded in waist-deep water with rakes, attempting to clear drains.
When they said water main break at West 46th and Perry they werent kidding. Poor homrowners dealing with yards and basements completely inundated with water and mud.
— Helen H. Richardson (@hrichardson)
It took Denver Water crews several hours to shut off the water flow because they had to turn off “dozens” of valves in the area, including one valve that was under a flooded section, said Denver Water spokesman Travis Thompson. Crews created a blockade of dirt in order to divert flooded water and access that valve, he said.
“There are a lot of pipes that run through there and they’re all connected,” he said. “It gets pretty complex.”
He could not say why the pipe burst, but said the pipe was installed in the 1920s and its age may have been a factor.
After the waters receded Sunday afternoon, two blocks remained without water service, Denver Water said. There were no boil advisories in place for the area.
Denver Water sent crews door to door Sunday to talk with residents whose homes were flooded and work to get the water pumped out of the houses, Thompson said. Residents with damages should work through their homeowner’s insurance, and they can also directly file claims with Denver Water.
Out at a big water main break at 45th and Perry. Road is washed away, cars partially under water
— Shelly Bradbury (@ShellyBradbury)
The pipe could not be repaired Sunday because crews couldn’t do the work until the pipe has completely drained, a process that takes several hours, Thompson said.
“Once we get down to the pipe, the fix is fairly straightforward and easy for the crews,” he said.
