| Shawna Morrison

shawna.morrison@roanoke.com, 381-1665

RADFORD -- Water service could be back to normal today after a water main break affected homes and businesses throughout a large part of west Radford on Monday and Tuesday.

Work to repair the break in a 16-inch main near the intersection of Second and Staples streets was expected to begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and last four to five hours, Radford spokeswoman Becky Hawke said.

The break was discovered just after 3 p.m. Monday, she said. It caused many people to experience reduced water pressure or lose service completely and leaked about a half-million gallons of water. Hawke said that is much less than what could have been lost if crews hadn't responded so quickly to patch the main.

"The line that broke is a main line, the biggest in the city," Hawke said. Crews were able to put a temporary patch on it within six hours, "which is really fast for a line that size," she said.

After crews patched the break, the water treatment plant was operated at a reduced rate to keep water pressure low in that area, Hawke said.

The ground around the main settled after recent heavy rainfall, Hawke said, causing the main to cave in.

On Tuesday afternoon, Second Street was closed between Wirt Street and Robertson Street, which runs next to the municipal building.

One resident was displaced after the basement of her nearby house flooded and clothes that were hanging on a line were sprayed with muddy water, Hawke said. The woman stayed elsewhere while the city pumped water out of her basement Tuesday.

Wade's Supermarket on West Main Street closed two hours early Monday because of the break and posted a sign letting customers who needed to use a restroom know they could go to West End Deli Mart, which didn't lose water service, said Greg Wade, president of Wade's Foods.

The water heaters at Wade's Supermarket are above the sinks, Wade said, so the store was able to wash deli pans and utensils before closing.

"We had just enough water to get cleaned up," Wade said. "We weren't drastically affected. We're worse off losing power than we are losing water."