Water main break drains water tower, causes sinkhole

ASHEBORO — A broken main line from the water tank on South Church Street has resulted in the loss of 500,000 gallons of water and a small building partially submerged in a sink hole. 
Water from the leak ran down the hill and covered much of Church Street below, resulting in the street being closed between Sunset Avenue and Academy Street on Monday, Sept. 20. Crews were at the scene all day Monday to clean up the muddy water and fix the line.
City Manager John Ogburn said the line broke at approximately 5:40 a.m. Monday morning, draining the large storage tank within half an hour. 
He said Monday afternoon that people were out of water, including City Hall, but crews were working to get customers back on line as soon as possible.
“We’re working to clean up the mess and put (the water lines) back together,”Ogburn said. “We’ll work nonstop until it’s fixed.”
He acknowledged that the small building belongs to Verizon and they had people onsite waiting for a crane to lift the building back to a level position.
Ogburn could give no prediction as to when the water line would be fixed, saying that they’ll have to get valves and T’s from South Carolina for repairs to the broken line.
Asked what caused the break, he said it was probably just the age of the system.
The cost of 500,000 gallons of water is $1,890, based on the rate of $3.78 per 1,000 gallons. That’s according to Michael Rhoney, director of water resources. That cost will come out of the city’s water budget.