Water Main Break on McCormick Avenue at Kenwood

UPDATE (12:30 p.m.) — Department of Public Works spokesman Kurt Kocher confirmed via an e-mail to Patch that his estimate was correct, and that homes in the area had water service restored by 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, aug. 2.

About 75 homes along McCormick, Councilman and Kenwood avenues were without water Tuesday night after a 6-inch water main broke in the unit block of McCormick Avenue during the afternoon.

According to Karl Stratmann, a resident who lives near the intersection of Kenwood and McCormick avenues, he first noticed water coming up through the street at around 3:30 p.m.

"I called 911 at first, and they sent police to check it," Stratmann said.

According to Kurt Kocher, a spokesman for the Baltimore City Department of Public Works, the 6-inch main should be repaired overnight and water restored to residents by the morning.

Kocher was on the scene around 6:30 p.m. with a public works crew.

"A 6-inch main is usually something you can fix in five or six hours," Kocher said.

At last check crews were waiting for a Miss Utility team to arrive and mark the area where the break occurred before they could begin digging.

Kocher said that the amount of time it would take to repair the break was dependent upon the utility company and what the crew found once they started digging.

Resident Wayne Definbaugh posted a photo of the break on his Facebook page to start a discussion. Comments ranged from "what a mess" to "free car wash!"