Gomez
Early Sunday morning, the town of Century had a water main rupture on Highway 29 in front of Ace Bondurants Lumber and Hardware that left its residents with low pressure or no water at all, a boil water notice that was put in effect, and one employee badly injured.
Century Mayor Luis Gomez said the call came to Century Supervisor Kevin Merchant about 4 a.m. Sunday. Gomez said he got the alert call from the Omni Beacon company soon after. When they got to the scene, the water was gushing out, Gomez said. Several employees worked on the break until around 8:45 p.m., Sunday, when a storm was approaching.
"We got down in the hole and it took all day to fix it," said Gomez. "It was a deep line and they replaced about 12 or 15 feet of pipe. That's why it took so long."
Gomez said dirt fell on a couple of employees, with Merchant and Brian Madison down in the hole, sending Madison to the hospital and subsequently, in need of surgery.
"It was just a bad break," said Gomez. "It was just mother nature. When those lines break, it was so close to that well it pretty much drained that well, and it flooded out in front of Bondurant's. It was a main break and those are big pipes."
Gomez said the town had to open hydrants to relieve some pressure, which resulted in the low water pressure experienced by some Century residents Sunday afternoon. The well had to fill back up once the rupture was repaired to restore pressure.
Gomez said he went ahead and issued a boil water notice early Monday as a safety precaution before the repair was complete. He said Alan Fowler with Clear Water issued an official boil water notice Monday also to Century area residents. The boil water notice is effective until further notice. The town is currently collecting water samples to determine if the presence of e.coli bacteria exists
Gomez said Century residents were understandably upset about the absence of water or low water pressure and he got a lot of calls about the situation. There were rumors the water was running into the Sandwich Deli but it was not true.
"It was an act of God, the pipe just burst," said Gomez. "There's was nothing anyone could have done about it. People were upset and blaming the mayor and council. What am I going to do about a pipe bursting 8 feet underground?"
Gomez said the town employees spent 12 or more hours working to repair it. He said he was surprised at the comments and calls received, blaming the town, mayor and council for no water. Gomez said he didn't design the water system in Century, all he can do is call someone when incidents like this happen.
