Massive water main break in South Hills leaves many without service

PITTSBURGH — A massive water main break in the South Hills Friday morning cut off service to many areas.

Residents in Brookline, Mt. Oliver, Green Tree, Knoxville, Allentown and Mt. Washington reported water outages.

The 42-inch break happened on Brooks Street in Brookline, leaving a cascade of water falling through a collapsed road.

“We suspect that some of the customers living in the higher elevations probably went into low, to no pressure mode,” PA American Water spokesman Gary Lobaugh said. “It’s located in a rather remote area, so we’re still trying to figure out what the cause was.”

People who live nearby said they heard the road crumble.

“It was scary because I was worried about the guy who lives down the street,” said Brookline resident Sandy Stiefvater.

Channel 11's Brandon Hudson was at the Brentwood Giant Eagle, where many people went to buy water.

“Everybody is in there buying bottled water. Everybody,” said Sharyl McCanless.

Tankers were brought in to the Jefferson Hills Volunteer Fire Department in case of a fire emergency.

Lobaugh did not say how many households were affected by the service outage, but most customers were back to normal by Friday night. Six homes near the break will be without service until Saturday.

“We have a team of contractors on standby, so customers can expect the same level of service that they’re used to,” Lobaugh said.

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