Leak found in Mayfield water system; refill begins

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Lamendola

After a false start, village officials Tuesday afternoon found a leak that caused the water system to lose pressure and force closure of Mayfield schools.

Trustee Joseph Garrigan said a “T” connector on a water main installed in the 1930s uncoupled and let loose thousands of gallons of water at Green Street and Woodside Avenue.

Garrigan said village work crews were expected to fix the leak Tuesday night and that pressure in the water lines would come back slowly as the village’s water storage tank refills. He said that Mayfield school would remain closed today, marking the third day of closure. The district has used up both of its potential snow days.

The village has set up a water tanker at the Mayfield Mobil station for people to collect potable water for drinking.

Village officials thought they had fixed the problem Monday when they repaired a gasket on a water well pump but that proved not to be the case as the village had trouble maintaining a level in its 100,000-gallon water tower. As a result, there was little or no water pressure along lines feeding residences, businesses and village fire hydrants.

The village was running three of its six wells to pump water to the tower, when under normal conditions it would run one well. The normal pressure along the water lines is 70 pounds per square inch, or about 120 gallons per minute, and the pressure dropped well below that level for several days.

During the problem, village officials said fire coverage was not a concern, even though there was little or no pressure to the hydrants. Officials said firefighters can always run high-capacity lines to nearby lakes for water should need arise. The department also has mutual aid agreements in place.