Wilkins Township fixes water main break on Lower Rodi Road; break on Railroad Street still ongoing

WILKINS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Officials in Wilkins Township made water available Sunday to those impacted by a water main break.

On Saturday morning, the Wilkins Township Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 on Facebook announced that Lower Rodi Road was closed between Penn Center and Thompson Run because of a water main and gas line break.

As of 8 a.m. Sunday, the fire department said the roadway remained closed, and there weren’t any updates for repairs on the water main break. By 10:30 p.m., officials said those impacted by the Lower Rodi Road break had water restored, but a break on Railroad Street was still ongoing without a timeframe for resolution.

The Wilkins Township EMA released a list of the roads impacted. Those streets were:

Penhurst Drive

Linhart Street

Leneake Street

Patterson Street

Farnsworth Avenue

Churchill Road

Harrison Road

George Street

Baker Avenue

Meadow Street

Coal Street

Negley Avenue

Thompson Street

Ayers Avenue

Washington Street

Mortimer Avenue

Highland Avenue

Water authority crews worked around the clock to restore water to at least 1,000 people in Wilkins Township.

“We don’t have any water to cook or anything, even to take a bath,” said Valerie, who lives on Railroad Street. “It’s pretty bad.”

The 20-inch water main break on Lower Rodi Road was to blame. The break trickled down to about 20 nearby streets Saturday morning leaving hundreds of people without running water for more than 24 hours.

“I noticed it when I got up yesterday morning; the water was running pretty slow,” said Chuck Nelis, who lives on Harrison Road. “There was low pressure, and then it went off totally and we’ve had nothing since then.”

By late Sunday night, Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority officials said they restored water to most people in the area.

Ryan Flaherty, the township’s emergency management coordinator, believes the extreme cold could have put added pressure on the lines causing the break.

People who live in the township said this isn’t the first time a break has happened.

“That happens down there on that road all the time,” Nelis said. “It’s happened, within the last couple years, this is like four or five times now that that has happened.”

Valerie agreed.

“This is the season,” she said. “The sewer system, the pipes systems, they’re old and a lot of it needs [to be] replaced.”

Neighbors came to the township’s DPW garage on Peffer Road to fill up containers and pick up cases of bottled water for themselves and others.

“Our elderly neighbors with some medical issues, I’m going to make sure they get some of that,” said Valerie.

Chuck Nelis on Harrison Road said he hasn’t had water since early Saturday afternoon.

“We can’t shower. We have nothing. We can’t wash up,” he said. “It’s tough.”

Despite the major inconvenience, Flaherty said the community has stepped up to help out.

“Everybody that has come has been wonderful,” he said. “They’re all banding together. They’re helping each other by loading and unloading the cars together.”

A gas line was reportedly struck when the water company was working to fix the lines. That was quickly repaired and didn’t cause any issues.

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