COVINGTON, La. — At least 800 people in Covington did not have water Friday as crews worked to repair a water main break that caused a system-wide outage.
Christine Regusa, whose home was impacted, told Eyewitness News, "we [were] out in the yard, we came in to clean up and take showers and there was no water...so you just have to wait, or jump in the pool or wait till they get the water back on."
Fiber installer Vexus broke a 4-inch water line while boring for their new infrastructure plan along the Tchefuncte Drive System, according to the St. Tammany Parish Water District No. 3 Chairman/Secretary Brian Swindell.
Swindell said on Facebook that the pumps were able to keep up for several hours while contractors attempted to isolate the leak, but both the tower and ground storage tank ran too low levels.
Steve Lane from the water board says Vexus has a track record of causing an inconvenience and pipes are on the mend. "I live a few streets over and they actually hit a main on our street as well there are quite a few numerous instances as well where they hit a main or a customers water line."
About 75% of water in the 500,000 gallon tank was lost, according to the water board.
Lane says they have removed the damaged section of the pipe and installed a valve to close the system up tight.
At least one resident told Eyewitness News water has been restored in their home.
Crews say the area will be under a boil water advisory until early next week.
Water District 3 includes all Riverwood subdivision and Riverwood East subdivision.