The Leak
50 thousand Polish residents with no hot water or heating from a burst water main in Poland.
Warsaw, Poland 2 February, 2010 - A burst water main has left 50 thousand residents of Katowice, Poland, without heating or hot and water.
The leak that cut off heat from 16 thousand homes was identified Sunday night in a pipe of nearly a meter in diameter.
“We got the first warnings of a breakdown at 11pm and we went in fully mobilized,” Jacek Urban of the heating industry enterprise in Katowice said.
The cause of the fault was unknown but it was suspected that a crack occurred in a heating chamber, which meant repairs should be superficial and wouldn’t require digging up much of the pipeline, but this possibility hasn’t been ruled out.
“We need to pump out the water and then get to the damaged area. After we isolate the area we’ll check the extend of the damage and see if it just needs to be patched up or if we need to replace the part of the pipe,” Mr Urban said.
With top temperatures at below 5 degrees Celsius in Katowice many families had to brave the cold for a few hours, and steam escaping from the ground near the A4 highway caused motorists to slow down.
Just last December the town was similarly affected. Hot water and gas was limited on 30 December last year but the affected pipe was much smaller and the damage more contained. It barely affecting any residents though it had the potential to freeze 24 thousand homes.
Heat and hot water was restored to Katowice as expected late last night.
By Victoria Ziarkowski
Freelance Writer
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