A water main break at Greenwood Ave. and 85th St. quickly turned Greenwood’s busiest intersection into a river on Wednesday evening. Police diverted traffic around the flood zone while city crews worked to stop the torrent of water.
Update 1 p.m. Thursday: Traffic is pretty much back to normal today. The westbound curb side lane on 85th is closed off with traffic cones for about 50 feet, and there’s a layer of dried mud over the sidewalks:
See the story as it evolved below:
Update 8:30 a.m., Thursday: All lanes are open except one westbound lane on 85th.
Update 11 p.m.: The water has receded, and the intersection has reopened with the exception of westbound lanes of 85th, which are detoured south on Greenwood Ave. All that’s left is a few puddles and patches of mud, but city crews are still working on the hole surrounding the break site.
This is the culprit: an eight-inch water main about six feet underground just a few feet off the northwest corner of the intersection.
Update 7:15 p.m.: (From Dale) Some other businesses say they’ve got water seeping in and they’ve got brown water coming out of their taps. Water was seeping into a back room at Antika and the basement of Greenwood Academy of Hair. It didn’t help that every vehicle coming through the intersection sent up a wave of water (as Rachel describes below) until the police blocked traffic.
Minutes before police closed 85th, Beckie at Antika watched as wavelets lapped at the front door, saying the water rose quickly. “All of a sudden it started filling up the street.” This motorist anxiously waited for the light to change.
A crew from Seattle Public Utilities methodically shut off valves around the leak. This was one of the easy ones. At least one was well under water, according to an employee.
Jason Greekas said he was having dinner with his family around the corner at Romio’s when they “saw the river flowing by” on Greenwood Avenue.
Standing at the intersection, he watched water pushing up through cracks in the road on the north side of N. 85th Street outside the Greenwood Academy of Hair.
“Cars were just riding over it,” he said in disbelief as water undermined the road. “Why chance it?”
Update: 6:50 p.m.: The water department says an eight-inch water main broke. Luckily, that’s dirt and not sewage you see in the photo. Crews are headed to the scene, but it could take up to four hours to repair, so it’s best to avoid the intersection of 85th and Greenwood for the rest of the evening.
Update 6:30 p.m.:Dale is on the scene and reports that the intersection is flooded between Antika and Greenwood Academy of Hair. Police just arrived to block off the street to traffic.
6 p.m.: The intersection of 85th St. and Greenwood Avenue is flooded because of a broken water main.
Rachel writes in comments that the break happened just as she was getting off the bus at the intersection:
I was on the westbound 48 bus pulling up to the curb on the north side of the street at 85th and greenwood at around 5:45 or so, just as the main was breaking. Looking out the bus window, a wash of foamy brown water was running along the side of the bus, everyone about the step out the back door and looking down was like, “What??” the water was already too wide and deep to step clear out of the rear bus exit. everyone went up to the front. Within a few seconds after I jumped off the bus the water had risen high enough to make it impossible to cross 85th… I headed west on 85th instead, away from the water break, but got caught in the rising water anyway. i ducked into the szechuan place along with one of the staff, who had come out to see what was happening, but the wake of cars plowing through the water pushed the water all the way across the sidewalk and under the front door into the restaurant, to the chagrin of the women working there. ugh. quite a scene. it happened very fast.
33 responses so far ↓
1 Stu Witmer // Aug 12, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Good job Phinneywood! You were the only one’s to tell me what that f*&$^g chopper was doing over my house!
2 Karen // Aug 12, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Ditto that. I checked the Seattle 911 web site and didn’t see anything that looked like it would explain the chopper. Went straight here and BINGO!
3 Stu Witmer // Aug 12, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Reason #46 as to why we don’t need the “local” newspaper anymore!
4 JW // Aug 12, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Thanks, I wouldn’t of known otherwise b/c of this posting…
5 MonkeyPilot // Aug 12, 2009 at 7:00 pm
It just happened when my bus went by the intersection. Now I see that our tap water is brown-ish. Hope it will be safe to drink.
6 DFH // Aug 12, 2009 at 7:02 pm
This is always my immediate source for our neighborhood news. That chopper was driving me crazy! Thanks for the photos too.
7 Rachel // Aug 12, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I was on the westbound 48 bus pulling up to the curb on the north side of the street at 85th and greenwood at around 5:45 or so, just as the main was breaking. Looking out the bus window, a wash of foamy brown water was running along the side of the bus, everyone about the step out the back door and looking down was like, “What??” the water was already too wide and deep to step clear out of the rear bus exit. everyone went up to the front. Within a few seconds after I jumped off the bus the water had risen high enough to make it impossible to cross 85th. At first I’d thought it must be a broken fire hydrant, but you could see the water boiling up from below in several places in the already flooding street just a few feet west of the crosswalk, a strange sight–one doesn’t think of all that water pressure running 24/7 just a short distance under the street, or what it can do if it gets loose. I headed west on 85th instead, away from the water break, but got caught in the rising water anyway. i ducked into the szechuan place along with one of the staff, who had come out to see what was happening, but the wake of cars plowing through the water pushed the water all the way across the sidewalk and under the front door into the restaurant, to the chagrin of the women working there. ugh. quite a scene. it happened very fast. I’m relieved that it’s just a water main and not a sewer line, but feel bad for the business people on that corner. There will be some unpleasant clean-up.
-RL
8 Rob Fellows // Aug 12, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Our water is dirty now…
9 Doree // Aug 12, 2009 at 7:37 pm
Rob - Where do you live? Close to the water main break or many blocks away?
10 Carol Harper // Aug 12, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I live in the apartments over Romio’s and am a bit surprised that no one from the city has contacted us about the break. If it weren’t for this site, we wouldn’t have known why the water filling our commode was brown.
11 Rob Fellows // Aug 12, 2009 at 8:26 pm
I live on 84th just south of the break, so we’re pretty close. The water department told us that the brown is from rust, and (2) that we should consider not using tap water until tomorrow, presumably to keep from clogging up anything that can get clogged.
12 Becca // Aug 12, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Great reporting and photos guys! PhinneyWood Rocks!
13 Ken // Aug 12, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Seattletimes.com is now just hotlinking to Phinneywood for the story. Way to keep the hot local info flowing !
14 Anne // Aug 12, 2009 at 9:06 pm
I got an vague text from a friend about “Greenwood caving.” Didn’t know if he meant about the bog or some development matter. Came straight to phinneywood to get the story.
15 mosey // Aug 12, 2009 at 9:34 pm
We can expect a lot more of this fiasco from Seattle Public Utilities and Mayor Nickels. This is what they should be focusing on and preventing instead of silly bag taxes. Instead of high salaries to staff who don’t even live in our city, spend that money on making sure our ancient pipes are maintained, repaired or replaced.
16 Marty // Aug 12, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Great job, Phinneywood! I found more info here than anywhere else. Thanks.
17 Shannon // Aug 12, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Yes, I have brown water too. What’s the official way to find out if it is safe to drink or bathe in? Great reporting on the story…
18 Doree // Aug 12, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Here’s what Seattle Public Utilities says on their website about discolored water:
Sudden Discolored Water
If the discoloration is sudden, there may be some activity that has disturbed the direction or rate of flow in the city water main, such as use of a fire hydrant or a water main valve in your vicinity. Discolored water comes from internal pipe rust and sediment getting stirred up. When this happens the water is still safe. However, the water may be unappealing, so we recommend that you wait until it clears before drinking it.
The water should clear on its own. Try running the cold water for a few minutes to see if it is clearing or still discolored. If the water does not clear, let the water sit for an hour. Then run the water for a few minutes and flush the toilet a couple of times. If the water remains discolored, please contact Customer Service at (206) 684-3000. If your home is located on a dead-end line, it may take longer to clear up and our crews may come out to flush the pipe.
Avoid running hot water if the cold water is still discolored. This will minimize filling the hot water tank with turbid water. If you are washing clothes at the time, it is better to stop the cycle while it is full and wait until clean water is available to finish. If you allow the water to empty from the washing machine and go into the spin cycle it is more likely to cause permanent staining to the laundry items.
SPU always recommends that immuno-compromised persons seek advice about their drinking water from their health care providers. Visit the Health Risks and Cryptosporidium page for additional information.
19 Christine // Aug 12, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Our water is brown, we’re almost at 8th NW. Does anyone know if this is safe to drink?
20 Scott // Aug 12, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Taproot Theatre’s Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming had a 7:30 show, audiences on the sidewalk and no water … until 7:10! Even if the water was off-color the show did go on. We tip our hats to the engineers who restored the water. But we’ve had contingency plans for a flood in downtown Greenwood.
21 David R. // Aug 12, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Is this the same main that broke last winter during Snowpocalypse? I loved sliding my Subie through the ripply ice.
22 Elizabeth // Aug 13, 2009 at 12:15 am
I seem to remember this happening at this same intersection at least two other times since I’ve lived in Greenwood (2 years). What’s the deal?
23 Greenwood_D // Aug 13, 2009 at 1:02 am
Nice work, Phinneywood peeps.
24 Mo // Aug 13, 2009 at 7:23 am
I do hope the animals in the PAWS next to the hair academy are all ok and dry…
25 YT // Aug 13, 2009 at 7:37 am
My tap water is still slightly brown-ish. Does anyone know if it is safe to drink and/or when it will be clear again?
26 Iron City Mike // Aug 13, 2009 at 8:37 am
Somone had a seizure and drove their car into a tree at the same intersection last night around 8:00 or so - freaky time at that corner last night.
27 tw78 // Aug 13, 2009 at 8:42 am
Phinneywood - you rock. I was planning on meeting some people at Sweet on You and just happened to look on here first - still went, but it was good to know what I was walking into!! Thanks for being on top of it!
28 ballardmike // Aug 13, 2009 at 10:06 am
I like the label on steel plate - “hole”. =]
Sure would be nice if we didn’t see any news choppers hovering near Greenwood anymore though!!
29 Deb // Aug 13, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Does anyone know if Pillagers Pub is open tonight? Have a group of friends headed over there and I have called with no answer
30 Trix // Aug 13, 2009 at 12:44 pm
I don’t think they open until 3. Probably no one there to answer the phone until at least 2.
31 Deb // Aug 13, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Hmmm I thought it said noon on Thurs. I was just wondering if they are effected by the flood and will not be opening today?
32 Trix // Aug 13, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Really? I could be wrong about the open time, I never get in there before 4 on any day.
Come to think of it, I’ve got a growler that needs filling. I hope they’re opening today too.
33 Cindy J. // Aug 16, 2009 at 9:52 am
We woke up this morning to brown water (we’re at 43rd & Phinney). Anyone else experiencing this today in our neck of the woods? Perhaps a result of the incident earlier this week…
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