Water line break occurs on Carver Avenue

CRESTVIEW — Soggy ground caused by a broken water line required several hours of work Monday morning on Carver Avenue in Crestview.

Rita Florence, who lives on Carver across from Evelenar Missionary Baptist Church, said her sister, who lives with her, knocked on her door and asked her if she knew what was happening in their front yard.

"She said, 'There's something wrong. The mailbox is gone.'

"I was coming out here and then the water just shot up and the whole road collapsed. They're trying to get the mailbox out now," Florence said.

Part of Florence's front yard and the road next to it had become waterlogged when a fire hydrant pipe below ground burst open. Her mailbox, which had a brick surround, sunk into the dirt underneath it, and the paved road buckled as well.

"I'll have to go to the post office and tell them to hold the mail," Florence said.

Auburn Water System employees arrived that morning and began digging to uncover and fix the pipe that had burst, with Okaloosa Gas employees on stand by in case gas lines were affected.

AWS General Manager Doug Sims said the company uses two types of water lines, one of which is for potable water residents use for drinking, cooking and the like.

"Another is a solid line used for fire hydrants. They come in 20 foot sections that fuse together. One of the fused joints came loose," he said.

The company had to order parts set to arrive the next day, "two couplings to make that joint strong again. It's buried about 10 feet deep. We want to make sure it doesn’t come undone again," Sims said.

Since the pipe was for fire hydrants, residents won't need to boil water due to the broken line.

He said the section of road would be finished off by Monday evening as a dirt road so that residents could access the area. AWS is sourcing contractors to repave it with asphalt.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Water line break occurs on Carver Avenue