A major utility failure has left residents of 40 multi-story buildings in Petropavlovsk without water, along with a number of businesses, including some of the city's shopping and entertainment centers, according to infohub.kz.
The breakdown affected 40 multi-story residential buildings and commercial facilities, including some shopping centers. With water gushing from underground, utility crews had to immediately shut down the entire main — a vital artery for the city.
It took more than ten hours to locate the damaged section. The work was complicated by the fact that the rupture was five meters deep beneath a thick layer of asphalt.
On September 24, water supply was restored — residents were temporarily connected to another main. Repair crews continue to work at the site of the failure.
It turned out that a 90-centimeter pipe, about 40 years old, had burst. The leak is expected to be fixed within the next 24 hours.
"There may be some disruptions for some people now, because we will continue to manipulate, to perform operations with the shut-off valves. So there may be disruptions in some places. I would like to ask residents of the city of Petropavlovsk, residents of this particular district, to be understanding. A little patience, because we simply cannot fix such a big problem without shutting things off completely," said Andrey Fomichenko, chief engineer of Kyzylzhar Su LLP.