City staff report 30-hour Port Hampton water-main break, propose valve additions to limit future outages

City staff reported a major water-main break on Port Hampton that caused about a 30-hour outage for four businesses, including a local hotel and a children’s hospital. The council heard a staff presentation describing the response and a proposal to add isolation valves to reduce the number of customers affected by future breaks.

“We had crews that worked overnight throughout the night to get that repaired,” the city administrator said. Staff called the break roughly 15 feet long and said it occurred during a period when a large fire on the interstate resulted in a very high tap of water from the system.

Staff said the outage affected four businesses, including a Holiday Inn and what staff described as a children’s hospital. Crews and contractor personnel, including Globe, worked more than 30 hours to restore service. The city administrator commended public-works staff and contractor teams for the response and noted local businesses and the Chamber provided assistance to affected guests.

To reduce future impact, staff proposed installing additional valves in the affected area; the city estimated each valve would cost about $20,000. The administrator told the council the city expects installing more valves would make it more likely that a localized break would not shut off water service to the full set of businesses currently affected.

Council members were supportive of pursuing valve installations; staff said they will evaluate valve placement and bring cost and implementation recommendations to the council.