Village of Caldwell still Working to Repair Water Main Break

CALDWELL, OH – The Village of Caldwell is still working to get water back to some customers after a major water main break.

Kirby Morre, Director of Environmental Health at the Noble County Health Department, said the 12 inch duct-tile pipe that caused the break was around 30 years old.

“Well there was 4,000 customers and to add several to it, we have hotels people were visiting so they were affected,” Morre said. “We have businesses that are being affected and we have a prison in our community that was affected by this as well.”

Morre said if customers did not lose water they were asked to try to conserve it.

Darrell Crum, the Village Administrator, talked about some of the challenges they faced.

“When the system was installed, it came in from the front of our clarifying unit in our chemical room, which is encased in concrete,” Crum said. “That line ran under the concrete and was located about three-quarters of the way under. So we had to dig under the concrete and then the pipe itself was encased in concrete, the repair wasn’t able to be completed as it was installed. So of course we tried to [fix it], failed, and then we had to come up with a new design.”

Residents who were without water were provided potable and non-potable water from trucks the Village brought in.

Around 300 residents remain without water at this time.

There is currently no word on when the pipe will be fixed.