Charlotte Water customers may experience brief outages — again. Here’s what we know.
Charlotte Water customers may experience brief outages over the next few weeks, officials said Friday.
That’s because crews have started removing and replacing a 36-inch water main pipe damaged during a historic Oct. 18 water main break.
The break temporarily disrupted service across the city, including the airport, and prompted a boil advisory for thousands of homes and businesses in 16 ZIP codes.
Officials said Friday they still haven’t determined the cause of the break.
Such breaks can occur because of temperature, age and external damage, Charlotte Water spokeswoman Ajonelle Poole told The Charlotte Observer.
“In this case, because it is underground and several feet beneath a creek, it’s hard to determine the exact cause of this pipe break,” Poole said in an email Friday.
The pipe replacement will take weeks, “due to the complexities of the location,” Charlotte Water Director Angela Charles said in a news release. “Considerations have to be made during the repair construction, including pumping water from the creek and working near the bridge.”
“Short, momentary (service) disruptions” may result, she said.
Once crews replace the pipe, Charlotte Water will check remaining pipe for any defects, she said.
The new pipe is made of ductile iron – “material commonly used when dealing with external forces,” according to the news release.
Check for updates on Twitter @CLTWater.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 4:42 PM.