Officials: Water pipeline repair in Richardson completed Monday
A major water pipeline was back in service on Monday evening after it broke last Thursday.
The 72-inch diameter pipeline broke in the 4500 block of Crystal Mountain Drive in Richardson, flooding multiple homes in the neighborhood. Residents in Garland, Murphy, Plano, Richardson, Sachse and Wylie are being asked to hold off on any outdoor watering until Tuesday due to the break as service gets back online.
The biggest challenge is trying to clean up the damage done to homes flooded by the pipeline break.
"We also recognize the hardship this caused to residents directly impacted by the pipeline break and have offered to reimburse them for temporary lodging, meals and transportation costs. Over the past few days I have met with several of those residents who had the most damage and will continue to try to meet with all," said NTMWD Executive Director Tom Kula in a statement on Monday afternoon.
Over the weekend, some homeowners said they were frustrated by the damage to their homes and a lack of help from insurance companies on how to proceed. They still wanted answers on Monday, including who would pay for repairs to their homes.
“We’re waiting until tomorrow. Everybody is supposed to be coming,” said homeowner Ken Hutchenrider. “All the direction we’ve been able to give to water restoration people has been on our dime.”
NTMWD officials said it is a governmental entity and it “has to operate within laws governing the use of public funds to pay damage claims.”
The water district say a 72-inch and a 60-inch pipeline were in place long before the neighborhood was built.
“We have over 500 miles of the very large pipe like this throughout our service area to meet the needs of the 1.7 million people and we continue to grow,” Kula said.
With completion of the pipe repair, fixes and resurfacing of the street is next on the list. But debris and belongings remain piled in driveways and as long as it’s taken to fix the pipeline, there’s still much to be done.
“I’m sure it will be months. If we’re able to have Christmas fully in our home that will be a small miracle,” Hutchenrider said.