Water restored in Stockertown, Plainfield Township following main break - UPDATE

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

About 200 Stockertown area residents went without water for six to eight hours today following a water main break.

The break occurred early today at the underground water main on Sullivan Trail and was service was restored shortly after 3 o'clock this afternoon, officials said. Affected customers live in parts of Stockertown and the Belfast section of Plainfield Township from Batts Switch Road to Belfast Drive.

Pennsylvania American Water Co. customers throughout the day reported either having no water, low pressure or cloudy water as work was being completed. When the work was done, customers experienced cloudy water for a short period and were told by the company to run faucets for a few minutes until the water ran clear.

Susan Turcmanovich, a spokeswoman at Pennsylvania American Water, said it's unclear if the water main break was the result of water supplies being exhausted to put out a fire that consumed Nicos Polymers Group plant in Plainfield Township for several hours on Tuesday.

"A lot of water was being pulled through the system that day," Turcmanovich said. “We can never be clear what causes any water main break unless it’s obvious.”

During the disruption in service, a water tanker was made available for residents at Kessler's Locker Plant, 6092 Sullivan Trail. Customers were told to bring their own containers to collect drinking water at the tanker.

Charlie and Eileen Ringhoff, who live on Norman Road in Belfast, said they had to travel to their daughter’s house in Wind Gap just to wash up. They used bottled water for drinking.

“You can’t do nothing,” Charlie Ringhoff said. “We always have water at hand for an emergency.”

The couple said several elderly residents live in the neighborhood and it was fortunate the service wasn’t disrupted during last month’s triple-digit heat wave.

“Then what would you do?” Charlie Ringhoff asked.

Joan Manning, another Norman Road resident, said when she woke up, she went to take a shower and no water came out of the faucet. She had to use water from a back yard swimming pool just to get her toilet to flush.

“To go all day is a little bit too much,” she said.

Lonny Ross, who lives on Frable Street, said he was glad the water main didn’t break during the plastics fire, which could have meant more trouble for firefighters and emergency crews.

“I couldn’t take a shower, which is the first thing I do in the morning, but you have to deal with it,” he said.

Pennsylvania American Water is the largest water utility in the state, providing water and/or wastewater services to approximately 2.2 million people. Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company.

With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 7,000 people who provide services to approximately 15 million people in more than 30 states as well as parts of Canada.

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