A family on E 82 St., Manhattan was awoken on Thursday morning after becoming aware of a sudden hissing noise from their basement. They quickly became aware that the noise was coming from beneath the floor where the water main and sewer were located; they lifted the trap door to find water filling the pit. At first they assumed the water was due to melting snow and decided to monitor the situation over the next few days. Over the next 24 hours they started to lose water pressure and notified the NYC DEP of an alleged water main break. The DEP arrived at the single family brownstone within 14 hours, determined the water line was broken and issued the owner a “3 day notice”. The 3 day notice required the homeowner to repair the water line leak within three days before any further actions take place.
Leak inside house |
Sewer caps to be removed |
Luckily for the homeowner, the sewer trap was located in the same area that the water was leaking into. She was advised to remove the sewer caps and let the leaking water drain into the sewer line. This quickly relieved her fears of a flooded basement however, the water pressure continued to become a concern. Her local plumber was called to the brownstone for what was expected to be a quick repair of the water line, this was not the case. The water line was made of lead and could not be repaired as per the NYC plumbing code; the entire pipe had to be replaced from the street to inside the house. The plumber provided the number of Harris Water who he had used several times over his years.Harris Water arrived at the house, verified the leak, took measurements, obtained information from the city and provided the homeowner with a price to replace the main. Harris was hired to do the job and started the installation by 10 AM the same day. After obtaining all required emergency street opening permits, the installation crew began opening the roadway to turn off the water supply. The roadway excavation was completed and the crew had reached the city main within two hours. The water leak was now under control and the crew could start preparing the ground for a new copper water line.
Opening roadway |
Tunnel for new pipe |
All holes were excavated and tunnels were completed by 2 PM when the new pipe was pulled from the roadway to inside the house. The crew was backfilling all excavations by 3:30 PM and completed a thorough cleaning of the jobsite before their departure.
Why Harris Water?
Harris Water Main & Sewer Contractors was able to respond to an emergency water main break on the Upper East Side of Manhattan while avoiding any serious damage to the home. All required DEP and DOT permits were obtained prior to the start of work and the job was successfully completed in one day. After over 95 years servicing NYC and its five boroughs, Harris is equipped to handle any type of water main or sewer break that may arise. Contact Harris Water 24/7 at 718-495-3600
