WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | City fixes Blythewood water leak months after first report

City fixes Blythewood water leak months after first report

By Jack Kuenzie - bio | email

BLYTHEWOOD, SC (WIS) - A viewer in Blythewood emailed us to let us know about a water leak at a vacant home in his subdivision.
     
He said he and his neighbors have been trying to get something done about it since last month.

"This leak isn't just a mere seep, but is flowing out at a very fast rate," the viewer wrote.

This week's heavy rains have moved on, but the water is still rushing down Glen Ord Court in Blythewood.

It began two weeks before the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida swept through the Midlands, and neighbors like Charlene Brown aren't too happy about it.

"I think it's a waste of water, it's a waste of resources," said Brown. "And it looks really bad for anybody to drive down the street and want to buy a house and to see that. And I don't like to having to watch it every day.

The water has been spewing out of a broken line somewhere under the driveway at 51 Glen Ord Court, one of the new homes in the Beasley Creek subdivision.

The development built by the Shumaker company offers a variety of energy-efficient "green" homes, though homeowners say there's nothing green about a pipe break that continues to waste thousands of gallons of water.

"Cars drive by all the time, and they're driving too fast to be looking for houses," said Brown. "So they're pretty much coming down here and going back up the street. And I think some of the people are probably looking to see if the water's still running."

Shumaker's vice president for construction told us by phone his company considered the leak the city's responsibility.

The company says it made repeated efforts to get a city crew out here to fix the problem. We checked with city Utilities Director John Dooley, who had a work crew out there within 30 minutes of our call.

Dooley told us the city had been there at least once before, but had decided the break wasn't serious enough to warrant immediate action.

Now, however, we can report some good news for the folks in Beasley Creek. Shumaker's David Watkins said the City of Columbia has already taken steps to stop the leak and repair the broken line.
     
That response came less than three hours after we brought the problem to the city's attention.