Water service cut off in parts of South End after contractor damages main, city says
A construction crew damaged a water main Wednesday night, cutting service to parts of South End and leaving some customers to rely on city-provided bottles of water for more than a day.
“You can’t even flush your toilet, like nothing,” resident Lauren Hansen told The Charlotte Observer. She and her Goldendoodle puppy, Cooper, did not have any water for drinking or bathing.
Water is expected to be restored around 10 p.m., Charlotte Water said in a tweet at 6:47 p.m. Thursday.
Reports of low to no water pressure near the intersection of Dunavant and Hawkins streets were received Wednesday night, Charlotte Water said in a tweet. That area is between Tryon Street and the Lynx Blue Line, north of Remount Road.
A damaged water main at a construction site caused the outage, the utility tweeted around 6 a.m. Thursday.
“CLTWater apologizes for the inconvenience this is causing customers,” the tweet said. “The damaged pipe was caused by a contractor. This is a complicated replacement effort.”
Charlotte Water did not have an exact number of customers without water, but Hub South End Apartments on Dunavant Street, Junction 1504 Apartments on Mainline Boulevard, and businesses near both complexes were affected, spokesman Cam Coley told the Observer on Thursday.
Water service was restored to some apartments in the 300 block of Hawkins Street, the utility said in a tweet at 2:12 p.m. Thursday.
Samet Corp., the general contractor for the development, said it is investigating the cause for the damaged water main.
“We apologize to everyone affected by the water main break and thank you for your patience as we work with Charlotte Water to safely to resolve it,” Samet spokeswoman Suzanne Turner said in an email to the Observer.
Crews halted construction at the area where the water main was damaged, according to Turner. They have resumed construction elsewhere on site.
Water to drink, flush toilets
Gallons and bottles of water for drinking and flushing toilets were made available near the repair site, Charlotte Water said. But some residents complained about the lack of communication from the utility.
The communication issues and the construction across the street from her apartment complex have been “super frustrating,” Hansen said.
Alex Doxey, who lives at Hub South End Apartments, said Charlotte Water didn’t say much of anything about the situation Wednesday night. Rationing the water she had, including a cup of water from the night before, got her through this “inconvenience.”
“It just puts into perspective how great and blessed we are to have running water on a daily basis,” Doxey said. “We’ll just ration what we get from this and learn how to flush a toilet with a jug of water.”
At least one business closed Thursday because of the water outage.
The Dunavant restaurant said it would reopen on Friday.
Colin Domagalski, who lives at Junction 1504, said he woke up Thursday a little thirsty but is managing. He and his girlfriend noticed their water was out around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“At that point, it was just a very slow dribble,” he said.
Domagalski called the city supplying water “amazing.”
“I think it’s great that the community is kind of coming together and providing us with some water,” he said.
It’s unfortunate that it’ll take another 10 to 12 hours to fix the damaged pipe, he said.
“At this point, there’s really nothing we can do,” he said. “We’re just kind of taking it moment by moment.”
Apartment complex being built
Developers are planning to build an eight-floor, 426-unit apartment complex on the site where the water main was damaged.
Construction on Hawkins Press started last fall, according to the website of one developer, Washington-based Akridge.
Akridge is partnering with Virginia-based developer Kettler on the apartment building. The development will include two outdoor courtyards with a pool, a roof terrace, fitness center and dog park, per the developer’s website. It’s expected to open this fall.
Samet Corp. confirmed the water main damage happened on site.
No one was injured, Turner told the Observer.
This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 9:59 AM.
