Water Main Repairs

In December, we had some men working outside the front door on an area in the sidewalk. They were there a couple of days in a row, so I finally asked what was going on. They informed me that they were from the Fairfax Water Department and that there was a small leak in the water main that "feeds" about 16 houses in our neighborhood. They explained to me that the problem was small and it did not affect water flow or quality to my house but that they would need to repair it in order to prevent further damage to the pipes, sidewalk, etc. They were trying to determine the exact location of the leak and prevent themselves from having to destroy too much of the sidewalk.
Two days later (12/17), the workman showed up to complete the work (1 week earlier than I had been told). I immediately began to scramble around the house. Unfortunately, this was the exact day that I had planned to bake 9 dozen cookies and do 6 loads of laundry! Somehow, I managed to get 3 gallons of water in the fridge for future use, all the cookie dough prepared, 2 loads of laundry done, and a shower before the water was cut off!

Two hours later, this was the scene outside my kitchen window....apparently "small" leak does not equate to "small" repair. By Lunch time, the dirt pile was big enough to fill a dump truck!


To my Absolute amazement, the water leak was repaired in 12 hours (with the help of about 10 workers from the Fairfax Water Dept and some Bright lights) but it took 3 days to get the dirt put back and the ground/sidewalk functional. They now have gravel and plywood in place as my "new sidewalk" until the Spring; there is no way to re-brick now. In the cold/wet weather, the ground would settle and they would have to fix it in the Spring. So, they will just wait until then.

And yes, we got all 9 dozen cookies made even with the water turned off. I baked and Sybella sat on the kitchen counter looking out the window & watching the backhoe work.