The great 2017 Central Shoshone water saga
Photo by Chanse Watson. A CSWD worker inspects the damage caused by the broken pipe Wednesday afternoon, less than one day after the initial break.
Courtesy photo This image explains how a thrust block works. But after years of sitting in a river, erosion wore the thrust block down, allowing the pipes to separate and for fresh water to spill into the river.
Photos by Josh McDonald Crews weld a fitting for the new section of pipe that was installed Thursday night.
Instead of running the new pipe back out under the river, the contactors and engineers ran it toward the bike trail before it connects with the old, existing system.
The new water main pipe where it connects to the old, existing system. You can also see a pump on the pile of dirt that is pumping seeping river water from the ditch back into the South Fork of the CDA River. Also note the old chunk of broken pipe laying near the ditch as well.
It was 12:03 a.m. on Friday when the open faucet in my home in Kellogg finally had water running through it.
Some had water sooner, some later, but despite the frustrations that were experienced, everyone was happy to have it back.
The Silver Valley’s most recent water fiasco began sometime Tuesday evening when the Central Shoshone County Water District’s (CSWD) water main line broke, causing the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River to appear like it was boiling just a few feet from the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s Pinehurst Trailhead.
CSWD manager Barney Norris and assistant manager Chad Nelson quickly got the water shut off and began the process of figuring out how the problem could be resolved.
By 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Nelson had a crew of his own water district personnel and a team from DG&S Co. begin the process of unearthing the old broken pipe and installing a new one so that the residents of Page, Smelterville, Kellogg, Wardner, Montgomery Gulch, Elizabeth Park, Big Creek, Sunny Slopes, and Osburn could have water again.
Jeff Nearing with DG&S, the general contractor who quickly assembled a team to respond to CSWD’s call, discussed how the situation could have been much worse.
“If this had happened four or five weeks ago we may have been without water for a few weeks instead of just a day or so,” Nearing said. “There is no way we could have gotten in here to repair the issue with the flooding that was going on.”
Even with the water at a more manageable depth now compared to a few weeks back, the crews had to utilize multiple pumps as they worked to keep out the water that was seeping in from the river into their newly dug ditch.
Some of the members of the crews working spent nearly 40 straight hours on the project over the course of Wednesday and Thursday.
In a letter to the News-Press, Norris highlighted what had happened and how thankful he was for the hard work.
“Central Shoshone County Water District had a major 24-inch water line break near the Pinehurst inter-change along the Rails to Trails,” Norris said. “The district crew has been working, God bless them, around the clock to restore water to service the customers from Enaville to Osburn.”
Reportedly, the issue arose due to the erosion of a thrust block that held the original water main pipe together as it sat below the river.
The system was initially installed by the Bunker Hill Mining Company over 40 years ago and was an antiquated system according to local contractors, but due to its continued functionality as well as the massive costs that would go into replacing the system, it had been left alone until now.
Wardner mayor and CSWD board member Joe Guardipee also wrote letter to the News-Press which gave insight into the exact process that Norris and Nelson had to go through to get the situation resolved. “First, of all the regulatory agencies had to be contacted and permits issued,” Guardipee said. “This was done expediently due to the common sense of the agencies and acknowledgment of the emergency. Next, the hospital, nursing homes, schools, etc. were notified so they could take appropriate action. Then a contractor had to be contacted so they could gear up. Supplies, replacement pipe fittings had to be procured.”
Despite the cold and wet conditions, the crews kept their spirits high, but that could also be attributed to the many local businesses and people who donated hot coffee, fresh food, motivational words to the guys who got the water flowing.
“One of the benefits of living in a small community is the people who go out of their way to lend aid when the need arises,” Guardipee said.
Wardner’s mayor praised the positive support that he heard from the community, but also had some terse words for the people who were less than supportive throughout the event.
“Numerous comments were made by the CSWD residents. Most were positive. To those(people), I say thank you,” Guardipee stated. “For the few that were derogatory, I have no tolerance for you. Perhaps you don’t know how hard people worked on this project.”
The CSWD office was flooded with phone calls as residents and businesses panicked to figure out what they could, should, or couldn’t do.
Businesses like McDonald's and Subway were closed.
Kellogg School District was closed.
And then the boil order was issued.
Norris also explained that, while this situation was inconvenient, the district still has plans to replace the old infrastructure, which means there could be small outages during the construction season.
“The water district has been replacing old infrastructure for the last several years and has made great progress,” Norris said, “but there is old pipe throughout the district. We are replacing pipe all through the water district with the bond that passed and also when District budget allows. The district appreciates all customer’s patience during this ‘major leak’ and all the on going water infrastructure projects this summer. A lot of infrastructure will be replaced this year and next year with the bond.”