Millions of Gallons Lost in Main Break

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It’s never easy to go without water. People in Fergus Falls found that out this weekend.

They had to boil their water for safety precautions.

Daniel Stenberg who was under the boil order said, “Not so good right now, I don’t know maybe when you just boil it, it just tastes different. I’ve never had water after I’ve boiled it before but I had it last night and it wasn’t quite what I was expecting or anticipating.”

City officials, Fergus Falls Police and Fire Department began searching Saturday into Sunday morning.After a great deal of hunting, the source was an old pipe with a hole about fist size. But why was it so hard to find?

Len Taylor of Fergus Falls Public Works said, “It broke into a storm sewage man hole. So instead of surfacing and being noticed by everybody with all the millions of gallons of water, it went directly into the river.”

The search could’ve been shorter with the water right in front of Taylor’s window.
Less than 50 feet from the City Hall is where all the water was being pumped through this pipe and into the river.

“It was really frustrating, to spend the time, the resources, going out and braving the temperatures like everybody was doing it was pretty taxing,” said Taylor.

But in the end the pipe was fixed early this morning.An estimated guess on the damage is $30,000. The city is currently crunching numbers on the exact amount.

With many pipes from the early 1900’s, city officials plan on checking more pipes to make sure this does not happen again.

People living South of Douglas Ave and between Oak and Cascade Avenue are still under the order.

Fore more information check the city’s website.