High rise residents desert-ed during water shutdown

When College junior Kim Duyck stepped into the shower yesterday morning, she didn't expect an ordeal. But thanks to a punctured pipe in High Rise North, she found one. "I just put conditioner in my hair," she said last night. "Then the water shut off. There was no water. Zilch. Nada." Fortunately, Duyck's roommate helped resolve the crisis with a jug of water, and Duyck made it to class. "It wasn't funny at the time," she said. "The worst things happen to me." Like the approximately 800 other residents of the high rise, Duyck was left high and dry yesterday as Physical Plant workers turned off the water from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. to perform an emergency pipe repair. The leaky pipe, located above the building's upper lounge, ruined a few ceiling tiles, according to West Campus Operational Services Assistant Edward Gordon. Gordon said Physical Plant notified him early yesterday morning that they needed to drain the system -- forcing water to be shut off for several hours. He added that in all but emergency situations, Residential Living gives advance warning about water or electricity shut-offs. Associate Director for Residential Maintenance Alan Zuino said he was contacted Wednesday night when the leak was first discovered. He added that turning off the water on such a large scale is uncommon. While some early rising residents did not even know there was a problem, most others were forced to cope with the lack of water. College sophomore Amy Mertz said yesterday that she was one of the luckier -- and cleaner -- High Rise North residents. She had taken a shower before the lines were shut off, realizing later that there was no water when she went to get something to drink. "I went to one sink and nothing came out," she said. "Then I went to another, and another . . . Finally we deduced there was no water." Wharton junior Steve Spenser said yesterday that he thought the water shutoff was a "huge inconvenience." "The water was on when I brushed my teeth and off when I tried to take my shower," he said. "I could have been in the middle of taking it." Spenser added that he had wanted to take a shower before leaving to take a test. Because of the lack of water, he had to bike down to Hutchinson Gymnasium to take a shower there. "If I do badly on the test then I hold the high rise people responsible," he said. "I'm not a morning person." But Wharton sophomore Joel Yarbrough said the shutoff didn't inconvenience him. "I don't shower that often," he said. But Yarbrough added that he was a little miffed when he discovered in the middle of brushing his teeth that the water was off. "It was tough because I don't wet the toothbrush before I brush my teeth so I had a mouthful of toothpaste when I found out," he said yesterday. High Rise North residents face an additional shutdown in the near future. Already signs are posted, announcing that electricity on floors seven to 24 will be shut off Saturday from 8:30 until 4 p.m. Operational Services Assistant Gordon said the shutoff would allow Residential Maintenance to complete refrigerator-related repairs.

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