Guerneville sewage pipe leak temporarily repaired

Sonoma Water crews temporarily repaired a leaking sewer pipe on Highway 116 on Saturday.

The crews found the cause and contained the spill caused by a foot-long crack in the pipeline on Highway 116 or River Road on Brookside Lane west of Safeway. But they couldn’t cut and weld a new piece of pipe, as they had hoped, “because there was too much fluid,” said Ann DuBay, community and government affairs manager at Sonoma Water.

Instead, they clamped the leak and two workers will monitor the pipe on site “by Monday, when all the suppliers we need are available and we can work out a permanent repair plan,” DuBay said.

The leak was contained around 2:30 p.m. After the leak was reported, work began around 3:00 p.m. on Thursday and the crews worked overnight to find the location of the leak. All wastewater discharges were completely contained and there was no threat to the public or wildlife, DuBay said.

On Saturday, workers operating pump trucks were forced to stop every 45 minutes as residents continued to flush their toilets and operate their washing machines and dishwashers. Officials asked residents not to run appliances or flush toilets until after 8:00 p.m. when repairs were scheduled.

You can contact Kathleen Coates at [email protected].

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