Photo by Robert A. DeFrank Village workers respond to a waterline break on 38th Street in Bellaire on Wednesday. The north side of Bellaire had no water, with service expected to resume this morning.
A major waterline break shut down water service in Bellaire from 26th Street to the north end of the community Wednesday afternoon.
According to Mayor Vincent DiFabrizio, by that evening workers were not sure whether the break was in a 16- or a 20-inch line.
Early Wednesday evening, DiFabrizio said the waterline crosses Ohio 7 to the water plant and leads to the village water tank.
“This is a pump line alley, we call it,” DiFabrizio said, adding the break occurred at almost exactly 3 p.m.
He said the lines in the area are about 60-70 years old, saying age likely caused the break. He did not estimate the number of households left without water – likely until this morning – but said the impact was widespread.
“From the firehouse north,” DiFabrizio said of the affected area.
He added there should be no delays in repairing the line.
“They have all the material,” he said.
Police Chief Dick Flanagan said he believed the break was in a 16-inch line that he described as old.
“Well, right now the entire town is shut down for water but the crews are on scene and digging it,” Flanagan said around 5 p.m. Wednesday.
DiFabrizio said workers were still pumping water out of the area after 5 p.m. but could not provide a specific cause.
“We isolated the lower part of the town,” DiFabrizio said. “Yeah, from 26th Street north it will be shut off.”
Flanagan said local fire services have been notified of the water supply issue, with the Belmont County Tanker Task Force standing by if needed.
“It’s just an old line, but they won’t know much more until they start to figure it out,” Flanagan said, adding that once water service is turned back on there will be a 48-hour boil order in effect.
“They have a whole crew of city workers” on the scene including DiFabrizio and Mayor-elect Ed Marling, Flanagan said.
Marling said the village’s waterlines will be a high priority when he begins his term, and he will seek grant funding.
“I’m going to get a lesson on the water breaks up here,” Marling said. “I’m going to go over this stuff and see where else they need (replaced).
“There’s no doubt this all needs repaired, up through here. It’s just going to take time. It takes money,” Marling said, adding it may cost $40 million to repair and upgrade the water system throughout Bellaire. “It needs it, there’s no doubt about it. You can’t repair 5 feet at a time to get it done. You’ve got to get the money and do large sections of it.”
Improving water service has long been an issue for the village. This past April, Village Council approved incrementally increasing water rates each year for the next five years. The proposed rate increase schedule included an additional $3.02, effective May 1; another $2.29 in January; $2.33 in January 2023; $2.47 in January 2024; and another $1.20 in January 2025.
The increases will go to help secure a loan and grant for installation of two new air strippers at the water treatment plant. The air strippers that will be installed blow air into the water, which would eliminate the chemical tetrachloroethylene. With the installation of the air strippers, the village could connect to a new intake on a contaminated well, which would increase the plant’s capacity.
This also would allow the plant to sell water to other places. The village currently cannot use the new valve because of the chemical tetrachloroethylene. This is the same chemical that state and local health officials determined in 2019 was coming from a former dry cleaning business in the community.
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December 30, 2021 at 01:18PM
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Parts of Bellaire Without Water After Line Break - Wheeling Intelligencer
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