BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Frustration spilled over during the Thanksgiving weekend at the Southgate Towers apartment complex, situated near Tiger Stadium. Residents say they were without water at points due to three separate leaks coming from the pump room.
“It’s Thanksgiving, I’m halfway through my Thanksgiving dinner and everything and cooking it,” said Semaj Morrow, a resident at Southgate Towers. “So I’m like has there been any updates? It was like hours in between them saying anything.” aluminum alloy bar
During that time crews were busy beginning repair work. They say it began when a 2-inch steel sprinkler line burst. Later, two 8-inch cast iron pipes also began leaking, leaving water everywhere.
One resident chimed in saying that the apartment’s initial update on Thanksgiving day was surprising given the situation.
“They actually sent us a text and said if y’all have someplace else to go you can go stay there,” said Shannon Edwards, another Southgate Towers resident. “So, people here were stranded on Thanksgiving day with no running water.”
“I’m sure they did the best they could but it’s still just unfortunate,” said Nicholas Disher, a senior at LSU. He agrees saying resident accommodation could have been better.
“They said they’d bring water but that was the last day, so they didn’t really do anything quick. But I’m sure they were working as fast as they could to fix it.”
WAFB received a statement from the Southgate Towers owner. An excerpt from it reads, “Currently residents can flush their toilets, wash dishes, and the faucets work, even at reduced pressure. This was available mid-afternoon yesterday.”
The owner also told us they hope to have the issue solved tomorrow. In order to do that, though, they must shut off the water again.
Morrow believes a discount should be issued.
“A prorated amount for the days we went without water because we are paying for a full month of rent and utilities, but we didn’t have a full month of that.”
The full statement from the owner of Southgate Towers can be found below:
“At approximately 2:00 am Thursday, Thanksgiving morning, a steel 2-inch sprinkler pipe burst. It flooded our pump room and the Southgate team responded immediately. We shut down the water, pumped the water out and reached out to the sprinkler company for an emergency repair. Late Thanksgiving day the sprinkler pipe was repaired. The water was turned back on at which time a 2nd leak was revealed under a concrete slab in an 8-inch cast iron pipe. Southgate called 4 different plumbers before one was willing come out and start the repair the following morning. The repair required a jackhammer which they had to locate since the pipe was covered by concrete. We spent all Friday to repair that pipe and resolve the situation. We had to get supplies once we reached the leak. Supplies were needed from a commercial plumbing supply house. We called around to all local commercial vendors and were finally able to find a rep that was willing to come and open to let us get the supplies we needed for the repair. We are so grateful for that kindness. The materials are commercial grade and not locally available everywhere. Getting the pipe and supplies took hours. The damage was on an 8-inch cast iron pipe with a hole and a crack causing a major water leak.
Yesterday we were able to install the replacement portion of the pipe. Once installed we turned on the water at low pressure to test for leaks. We then discovered water coming from another source—yet a 3rd leak. We then had to break out that concrete in an effort to repair the 3rd leak. Once again, it was an 8-inch cast iron pipe. We didn’t find the 3rd leak until our rep had left town and we could not get materials to repair the 3rd leak until Monday. So we left the water running at reduced pressure with pumps pumping from the 3rd leak to provide the property with some water pressure until such time as we can get supplies on Monday to repair the 3rd leak and complete the repairs. This repair will require concrete to be put in place at the 2nd leak to keep the pipe from pulling apart. If all those repairs hold we should be back to full water pressure on Tuesday.
We realize this has greatly inconvenienced our residents, but we have done everything possible to facilitate the repairs over a holiday weekend. We were told that plumbers and supply houses would not be available until Monday, but we worked tirelessly to find solutions, including carting water from the pool and putting it into commodes so residents could flush their toilets. We began this process at the 7th floor and were working our way down when we were able to restore partial water pressure on Saturday.
Currently residents can flush their toilets, wash their dishes, wash clothes and the faucets work, even at reduced pressure. This was available mid-afternoon yesterday. The manager sent email updates to all residents alerting them to the status of the ongoing water situation, updating as we knew more information."
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