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Winter takes toll on vintage city pipes

CALEB SOPTELEAN/Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years AGO
by CALEB SOPTELEAN/Daily Inter Lake
| February 24, 2011 1:00 AM

Cast-iron pipes from the 1920s are the culprit in two water main breaks in Kalispell over the past week.

A water main break on Sixth Street West on Feb. 16 flooded Shirley Kennedy’s basement, she said.

Murphy’s Stat Restoration pumped 6,000 gallons of water from her basement, according to Becky Johnson, an employee of Murphy’s.

Kennedy, 82, said her hot water heater was flooded and burned out. A basement wall also was damaged.

“We had one foot of water in our yard and one foot in the basement,” she said.

She has insurance and a $200 deductible.

The basement of her neighbor Ortrud Klienke’s home also was flooded with almost four feet of water, Kennedy said.

Susie Turner, the city of Kalispell’s water superintendent, said pipes in that area were installed during the 1920s. They are suffering from the winter’s freeze-and-thaw cycle.

“It’s what happens,” she said.

Some eight or nine city employees repaired the water main valve the day it occurred, Kennedy said. Turner said it took a while since workers had to chisel through ice to get to the valve.

Turner said there was another water main break Monday on Seventh Street.

“We feel there’s probably going to be more to come,” she said.

These areas possibly could be added to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan and repaired during the summer.

The city plans to replace water pipes on two blocks of Second Avenue East North this summer, Turner said.

Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.

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