South Farmingdale Water District Moves Rapidly to Repair Major Water Main Break on Hempstead Turnpike

On Saturday, July 30, 2016, South Farmingdale Water District (SFWD) reacted immediately to a major water main break that occurred between Merrits Road and Beach Street on Hempstead Turnpike in South Farmingdale. Responding within just minutes of notification, our crews arrived at the scene and worked in conjunction with Nassau County Police Department in shutting down a one eighth of-a-mile stretch of Hempstead Turnpike, diverting traffic around the construction zone for the protection of pedestrians and motorists as we diligently removed the broken main and replaced it with a new one.

We take great pride in answering to emergency situations swiftly with the proper equipment and work crews. As most of our consumers know, Hempstead Turnpike is a very busy stretch of highway and our staff was aware of the potential inconvenience this could cause to retailers and motorists on a Saturday during the summer. It was our priority to immediately focus our attention on the break, shut down the water that was going into that main and quickly tend to the emergency at hand.

Our crew was able to immediately locate the water main break, turn off the water to that particular area, break up the road and replace the broken main within an impressive turnaround time that spanned from 10 a.m. to late afternoon. As we quickly worked to repair the water main break, half of Hempstead Turnpike was re-opened to traffic in both directions by approximately 1:30 p.m. Police later reopened the remaining parts of the highway by late afternoon.

SFWD’s ability to swiftly respond and repair a water main break of this magnitude is a testament to our dedicated employees. Local commercial accounts experienced minimal interruption of water service. Additionally, we were able to maintain proper water flow for fire prevention. This can be attributed to our proactive redundancy plan and back up within the system. Lastly, residents within the neighborhood did not experience any water pressure changes resulting from the water main break.

SFWD Water Commissioners were on the scene and thanked the staff for responding so quickly and efficiently to this emergency call, especially on a summer weekend.

The District also thanked our local law enforcement for their cooperation and ensuring the safety of motorists and pedestrians during the repair.

Job well done!