A broken pipe shut down water service to a major section of Main Street for at least the second day Tuesday, forcing employees and visitors to look elsewhere for potable water and bathrooms.
V.I. Water and Power Authority spokeswoman Patricia Blake Simmonds said she had just received a report of the leak Tuesday, but several retailers along Main Street said water service had been interrupted Monday morning and possibly earlier. The affected area stretches from Raadets Gade to the site of the break near the Enid M. Baa Library at Guttets Gade.
Simmonds said WAPA intended to repair the break Tuesday night. "We can't dig up the road in the middle of the business day, so we have to wait until later. Plus we can't let water run down the gut."
For the second day in a row, workers at the Crystal Shoppe had to walk down Main Street to the shop's other location kitty-corner from the post office to use the bathroom. Other Main Street workers didn't even have that luxury.
Curt Lake, who helps run Virgilio's Restaurant, said the water shutoff had been "very inconvenient."
"We've been telling people who come in today and yesterday that there are no bathrooms, and that they may want to go elsewhere," he said.
Lake said the restaurant relies on the public system for the kitchen as well, but the restaurant was fortunate enough to have a cistern that it had filled Monday. Buckets were filled with water from the cistern for cooking and dishwashing, he said.
