Officials from Aqua Pennsylvania said Wednesday that they can’t give a timeline on when water service in the Shenandoah area will be completely restored.
Most residents in Shenandoah, Shenandoah Heights, Weston Place, Turkey Run, William Penn, and Lost Creek are experiencing little or no water coming through their faucets. It’s been that way since Monday evening when the water treatment facility went offline.
Shenandoah’s water provider, Aqua Pennsylvania, shut down the water supply in an attempt to identify the source of a water main break. That has not yet happened.
“It’s a slow, methodical process,” Aqua Pennsylvania President Mark Lucca said Wednesday at a press conference at Shenandoah Borough Hall. “It’s one that we go through by process of elimination.”
He said the company has heavy equipment – bulldozers, valve insertion machines, and excavators – on site to fix the problem.
“We’re already ready to solve the problem. We just have to find it,” Lucca said.
Aqua says it has brought in up to 25 people working in Shenandoah to identify the source of the water leak or leaks. The company is using personnel to listen to water flowing through headphones to determine if there’s a leak in a section of pipes. If it’s determined that no leak is occurring in one area, they can move on to the next.
“We have everything we need. We just have to find the leak,” Lucca added.
Right now, the company is hoping it is just one leak but in response to a question from Coal Region Canary, Lucca said he can’t be confident it is just one. Further, if a leak is found, there are no guarantees that it’ll be the end.
Lucca said there were two previous water main breaks that the company was able to repair but when those repairs were made, more breaks occurred.
In addition to the water main breaks that the company has fixed or is trying to fix now, Aqua said it has responded to up to 100 customer calls for frozen pipes to their individual properties this winter.
When the water main leak or leaks is identified and repaired, the next step will be to lift the Boil Water Advisory that remains in place until further notice.
Once the break or breaks are fixed, Lucca said water pressure will return to normal. Tanks will start filling. However, it’ll take at least two days of testing before the Boil Water Advisory could be lifted.
“It is a slow process and while that could be frustrating, we want to be sure we get it right,” Lucca said.
Emergency Water Supplies Available
Those affected by the lack of water service in Shenandoah can get emergency rations from a growing number of locations in and surrounding the borough.
Aqua said Wednesday it now has four, 1,200-gallon trucks filled with potable water for residents to use. That water is ready-to-drink and needn’t be boiled before consumption.
The company said to look for trucks with its logo on them to identify the safe drinking water. They’re currently available across from Borough Hall.
Portable retention ponds are also set up at Borough Hall for people to get water for non-drinking purposes, like filling toilets. Shenandoah Fire Dept. is partnering with Ringtown Fire Dept. and Ryan Township Fire Dept. to provide that water.
Residents taking advantage of these emergency sources are asked to bring their own containers for filling from these sources.
Bottled water is also now plentiful for residents.
Mrs. T’s Pierogies announced Wednesday morning that it partnered with Wegman’s and Niagara Bottling Hazleton to bring in pallets of bottled water and has established distribution points at Shenandoah Borough Hall and William Penn Fire Co.
Bottled water donations have also been made by Walmart, Dr. Greenfield in Frackville, Fabrizio’s Restaurant in Ashland, SCI-Frackville, Redner’s Warehouse Market, and Boyer’s Food Market.
Shenandoah Valley Goes Virtual Thursday
Students at Shenandoah Valley School District will have a virtual asynchronous day of classes again on Thursday. Students will still be provided transportation as normal for off-campus programs outside of Shenandoah.
Mayor: Beware of Scams
Shenandoah Mayor Bob Cook warned residents to be wary of scams that have or may rise during the water emergency in the area.
He said to be suspicious of anyone offering to get water service restored or offering other relief services or products and charging overly high rates or prices.
Special Website Created
Aqua has established a website for updating those affected by the water emergency with the latest information.
Updates can be found by following this link.
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