ECWA Lifts Voluntary Water Restrictions

(Sturgeon Point, NY) - Today at 9:30 a.m., the Erie County Water Authority (ECWA) lifted the temporary water restrictions in the Southtowns they put in place while repairing a major water main break at their Sturgeon Point treatment plant.

The Authority wants to thank their customers for voluntarily limiting their water use during this project - the most difficult repair in the 68-year history of the ECWA.

Because of a series of unique complications, the ECWA brought in outside experts to accomplish a sturdy but temporary repair through a remarkable process. A specialist from Hydra Tech Inc. out of Cincinnati, Ohio and two Authority staff entered the 42-inch pipe from inside the treatment plant, crawling about 40 feet in to the site of the break. Providing adequate oxygen and light was a primary challenge. Deep in the pipe and almost 20 feet down, the men repaired the leak - a hole about the size of a baseball - from the inside, laying on their backs in six inches of water with groundwater flowing back into the pipe onto them through the hole.

While this is a temporary fix, it will hold much longer than it will take for ECWA to permanently repair the leak from outside the pipe.

While there is still some way to go to complete this repair, the Authority is now confident this will soon come to an end. We have never been more proud the talent, training, experience, courage, and devotion of the hardworking men and women of the ECWA.