A 10 inch water main pipe burst late last night on Princess street near the municipal water treatment plant. Here, crews work to excavate the damaged line.

Repairs to the broken water main are complete, according to a message posted to the website of the Corporation of Shepherdstown earlier this morning.

Bill Myers, Shepherdstown’s water treatment plant superintendent, says that the water emergency has been lifted, and the water tanks to the west of Shepherdstown are now filled.

“We would like to thank the people of Shepherdstown for being so patient.” Myers said.

-Updated 11:58 a.m., Aug. 26

—

Repair crews working on the broken water main had to chisel through the concrete staircase leading up to the water plant.

Water service has begun to be restored to customers of Shepherdstown’s municipal water system. A message posted to Shepherdstown’s official website, Shepherdstown.US, reports that the water system is operating at limited capacity. The message also states that the town’s water tanks, located west of Shepherdstown on Rt. 45, have begun to be refilled, and asks for residents to continue conserving water until the system reaches full capacity.

By 10 p.m. Monday night, crews had removed and replaced the faulty section of water main, and were beginning to pump water back into the system.

-Updated at 10:43 a.m., Aug. 25

—–

A 10 inch water main pipe split around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, August 23rd at the Water Treatment Facility on N. Princess Street. The Corporation of Shepherdstown has declared a water emergency, urging all residents to halt non-essential water usage, to prepare for an extended water outage, and warning of discolored water coming from the taps.

Municipal water plant superintendent Bill Myers expects normal water service to resume between midnight and 1 a.m., provided the repair crews don’t encounter any unforeseen problems. Complicating the fix is the location of the broken pipe, which burst almost directly underneath the concrete stairway leading to the entrance of the water plant. Repair crews had to jackhammer through the concrete steps to get access to the pipe.

Myers said the water is safe to drink, despite the discoloration. “The water hasn’t changed,” said Myers. “We’re just not pumping any right now.”

Residents were notified of the emergency by automated robo-calls delivering a warning similar to a message posted today at 2:01 p.m. to the Corporation of Shepherdstown’s website, Shepherdstown.us. The full text of the warning is below.

“The Shepherdstown water department is currently experiencing a water emergency.

We are asking our customers to temporarily halt all non essential water usage and to prepare for a possible extended water outage. Activities which should be halted include: outdoor recreation, lawn watering, car washing, and laundry washing.

As we progress through this emergency you may notice discolored water from your faucets, this is purely an asthetic issue and does not affect the safety of your water.Please monitor our website at www.shepherdstown.us for continuing updates. Please contact the Shepherdstown Water Department at 304-876-2394 with any questions.”