Friday, October 31, 2008

Bellevue water main will have to be re-dug

Leak at house leads to discovery of bigger problem


By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

A small water leak under a house in Bellevue turned up a big problem for the Public Works Department last week.

After looking for a cut-off valve on a leaking three-quarter-inch water line leading to Don Curtis' house at 707 Chestnut St., workers found that a water main servicing the area ran under several buildings, rather than under the alley in the city's right of way, as it should have.

"If the line was originally put where it should have been it would have been OK," said Public Works' Director George Tanner. "Now it is something we are going to have to move."

Tanner said the line, which was laid during the 1970s or 1980s, meanders under driveways, garages and gardens between Chestnut and Walnut streets.

"Whoever built it didn't ask anyone at the city where it should have been," he said.

Tanner said that Curtis' leak, which comes from an old, capped water line, was Curtis' responsibility. Turning off the water at the water main is the city's responsibility.

Tanner called off a plan to dig up the crooked water main last week, saying it was too late in the year to begin the project. Curtis and Tanner decided to wait until spring for the city to dig up the old, twisted water main, and lay a new, straighter one under the alley.

Until then Curtis has decided to live with the leak.

"The city has been really helpful with this," said Curtis, whose house is getting water from a separate, newer line attached to the faulty water main.

"Waiting till spring will save him money," said Tanner, whose department has plans to upgrade the water main at that time. "Chances are the leak won't get any worse."




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