Water main showers Hamilton Walk

It looked like a scene right out of the Bible. The only thing missing on Hamilton Walk yesterday was Noah's ark full of animals floating by. But the flood flowing down Hamilton Walk was not an act of God, but rather the result of a break in a major water main that runs under the walk along the south side of the Quadrangle. As a result of the break, the Butcher-Speakman-Class of '28 House in the Quad and Stouffer Dining Commons were left with reduced water pressure throughout much of the day, according to Paul D'Angelo, associate director of Physical Plant. But students claim that they were left without water for much of the day, while Stouffer was forced to serve lunch on paper plates because there was not enough water available to run the dishwashers. "There was no water for the showers and the toilets didn't flush," Speakman resident and College freshman Brian Green said yesterday. "You can imagine what was floating in them. Basically everyone I know around here had the same problem. Some people had no water at all. Some people only had very little [water]." Will Kay and Aaron Horton, employees from the Philadelphia Water Department, said ground shifts, the age of the pipes themselves and the change in temperature all combined to cause the break. "These pipes are probably 80 to 100 years old, at least as old as this building," Horton said. "The cold weather along with shifts in the ground help cause the pipes to burst," Kay added. "Until we repair the pipe, people are at least going to lose some water pressure." The repairing of the pipe has been a difficult task because the water department has run into complications, according to Kay and Horton. "There are certain valves that we must turn to shut down the main so we can fix the pipe, but the valves are all so old they aren't holding very well," Kay said. "We can't get everything shut down. That's why it's taking so long." D'Angelo expressed concern over the main because he said that it also supplies many Medical School buildings. He added that the pipe was expected to be fixed by yesterday evening and that the water crew would remain there all night until it was fixed. Alan Zuino, associate director of Residential Maintainance, said that water has been rerouted into the Quad so that the residents will have water.

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