On Sep. 26, water was shut off to the campus apartment complex in order to fix “a water line break,” according to an email from Barb Flathers. It was projected that the maintenance would take two hours, and be back on by 1:00. At 6:00, Flathers emailed again, and informed residents that the water was back on.

Then all of a sudden on Oct. 14, apartment residents were informed that the water would need to be shut off again for similar issues. This time, there was no time table.

Director of Res Life Jeff Bickford said in an email, “At present, we anticipate that the water will only need to be shut off for a little while once the leak is identified. I am being purposefully vague, as ‘a little while’ could certainly be a couple of hours or more. Based on our current understanding of the situation, however, we don’t anticipate likely long-term interruptions in service.”

The water was back on at 1:37, but a text from the RAVE alert system specified that due to a “related issue.. no sidewalk lights tonight.” It appears that by about 6:00 on Oct. 18, four days later, the lights had come back on. Students that needed flashlights during the blackout could pick them up at Public Safety.

On Oct. 15, apartment water was shut off again, but it was back on by early evening.

“Identifying and fixing this leak will save the university a lot of money in the short and long terms,” said Bickford, “and Physical Plant has done excellent and high-volume work getting everything set up for this to be the least painful process possible for residents.”

“At this point, the break is proving incredibly difficult to find and I do not know when work will resume,” he said. “It isn’t finished by any means. Please be alert for any new requests to avoid certain parking areas. Physical Plant is really good about securing work sites, but please still be aware of your surroundings.”

At present, it is unclear what, specifically, the problem is. A work site is set up in front of Apartment 11.