Salt Lake City Residents Wake Up To Flooding After Water Main Break

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Residents above Foothill Drive woke up to a mess Friday as water was pouring into their homes following a water main break.

The incident happened in the area of 2900 East and 1200 South after a 12-inch, 1951-era pipe ruptured, according to the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities.

“This water should not be here,” said homeowner Andrea Berman as she showed KSL TV around her home. “It’s under the tile.”

That wasn’t the worst of it. Berman and her husband Jonathon’s entire basement has water damage following the break, which happened just up the street and flowed directly into their home on Oquirrh Drive.

“My husband woke me up (and) said the basement is flooded,” Andrea Berman said.

Jonathan Berman said he woke up around 5:30 a.m. when he was alerted by his ring camera. He initially thought it was a raccoon, but when he looked at the footage he saw the rushing water outside his home.

Incredible video shared to us from the residents who had their home flooded this morning by all of this water flowing down St. Mary’s Way In SLC. Details on @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/01aT6ccB6w

— Felicia Martinez (@FeliciaKSL) December 20, 2019

“I saw this flood of water coming down my driveway,” he said.

That flood of water entered directly into the Berman’s basement, a home they’ve lived in for 13 years.

“You can see it’s dripping,” Jonathon Berman said. “Fortunately it’s clean water, but it’s full of mud and salt and everything.”

The Bermans and other residents said water main breaks have been a recurring issue in the area, but it’s never reached this level. And the timing couldn’t be more inconvenient.

“The frustration is having to go through this cleanup and disaster,” Andrea Berman said. “They are going to have to rip out the carpets. This is going to be a week-long project.”

With less than a week until Christmas, the Bermans are feeling a bit overwhelmed. However, they’re managing to keep up their holiday spirit.

“I’m glad the city cut the line off as soon as they did, or it could have been a lot worse,” Jonathon Berman said. “My big concern is once they fix it, I hope it doesn’t happen again.”

Messy Friday morning for Salt Lake residents waking up to a water main break and flooding pic.twitter.com/EcrK5SEQqV

— Felicia Martinez (@FeliciaKSL) December 20, 2019

The Bermans said there have been contractors working in the area for several days, but it’s unclear if that’s related to the incident.

Public Utilities stated in a Friday morning tweet that the cause of the break is unknown. The department later released a statement on Facebook that repairs will begin once Blue Stakes crews have cleared the area:

“When a water main breaks in our service area, people often ask why our crews are on scene, but not immediately fixing the break. As soon as we learn of a break, we will dispatch a crew to tend to the leak, and to throttle its flow. But repairs can’t begin until a Blue Stakes team arrives to determine where we can safely dig. A whole world of utility lines – natural gas, water, sewer, cable, etc. – lives under the streets. By law, Blue Stakes has two hours to arrive on a scene once they are contacted. They will then inspect. It may seem that our crews are not reacting quickly enough. But safety is our first priority. We will always wait for Blue Stakes clearance before proceeding with repairs.”