Ambridge Residents Get Creative After Massive Break At Water Plant
AMBRIDGE, Pa. (KDKA) -- People are getting creative in Ambridge more than four days after a massive break at the water plant.
KDKA learned the town's boil water advisory will be lifted mid-week, but the kitchen inside Ambridge Italian Villa is still whipping up Greek and Italian classics all thanks to giant jugs of water.
"My first call was to Tri-State Waters in Beaver Falls," said restaurant owner John Palavros.
Palavros didn't even consider closing, but many other businesses had to close.
"We cannot afford to close. We had the bridge closure in November, which hurt us a little bit, and we're coming out of the winter months," Palavros said.
Last week, a vertical pipe inside the Ambridge Water Authority's plant broke in two places, cutting water out to the entire town. It's still not drinkable and everyone's under a boil water advisory.
Ambridge Water Authority General Manager Mike Dominick told KDKA-TV that it'll last nearly a week when all's said and done because of the flooding.
"Everything that was in that plant down to the light bulbs was flooded, circuit breakers, turbidity meters," said Dominick.
Everything needed to dry out before it could be repaired or replaced. Dominick's led the Ambridge Water Authority for nearly a decade and calls this unfathomable.
"I have guys that have been here 40 years and guys that have retired that were here before that, nothing close," said Dominick.
But residents like Jarraya Mason are making it work.
"I woke up in the middle of the night one day and I said, 'I have dispensers. I can do this,'" Mason said.
Mason stacked bottled water in her dining room, boiled water on the stove and placed a new jug filled with bottled water in her bathroom. Mason said she'll only need this set up until Wednesday.
"I didn't even hear that Wednesday, so that's very exciting news. I just was prepared for all of it. Just however long we're going, I got water," said Mason.
