COLUMBIA, S.C. — The City of Columbia experienced water shut off in parts of the Congaree Vista area on Tuesday due to Columbia Water tending to a leak in one of their main pipes around Riverfront Park.
"You take for granted how much you need water for everything you do," resident Brandon Williams said. "It just makes things very inconvenient for the water being off the whole day."
In turn, Williams relied on showering at work and bottled water to get through his day with water turned off at his apartment complex.
Clint Shealy with the City of Columbia says the water in part of downtown had to be cut off Tuesday to repair a 42-inch concrete pipe with a leak.
"We are putting in a valve that will help us isolate for future repairs and make that repair the right way," Shealy said.
Businesses and residents along Huger Laurel and Hampton streets will be without water until the pipe repair is complete.
So, when will that be?
"It's hard to estimate exactly," Shealy said. "We've asked customers and informed those who are impacted that it would be around 24 hours. We still think that timeline is accurate. So, that would put us at 2 a.m. the following day."
In the meantime, Columbia water says they're still working to replace aging infrastructure in the city that are on their last legs of life.
"We've got a lot of pipes that are 80+ years old and are at the end of their useful life," Shealy explained. "That's why we are investing in our utility using our customers' rates to reinvest and replace some of that infrastructure."
With pipe leaks happening more frequently than not, especially in winter months, there are ways to help minimize leaks from occurring.
“You get a freeze-thaw cycle going and the ground starts moving and impacting our piping network. And that's going to happen and happens every year but it's usually on a much smaller scale. This is a 42-inch diameter pipeline that is one of our major arteries that conveys water from our canal water treatment plant to the downtown pressure zone, Lower Richland and other areas," Shealy said
While the water is off, Columbia Water urges residents affected to conserve water when possible
"We are informing customers on what they can do to protect their household plumbing, because when a deep freeze happens and you have a lot of small pumping leaks that exerts a really high demand on our system."