What you need to know on the Fort Lauderdale sewage spill water advisory and repairs
Full repairs on the four-foot, six-inch sewer main break that drenched Fort Lauderdale’s Rio Vista neighborhood will take five to seven days to complete, the city said Wednesday.
Ponce de Leon Drive will be closed from Southeast Ninth Avenue to Southeast 12th Way during repairs, which require parts custom-made to the size needed.
But, the city said, “The sewer main break is not affecting the city’s water system. Drinking water is not impacted.”
Still, an advisory warns against touching any of the water on the ground in an area bound by Southeast 11th Court on the south; U.S. 1/Federal Highway on the west; Southeast 13th Terrace on the east; and the Tarpon River on the north. The same advisory counsels avoiding swimming, fishing, jet-skiing “or any water-related activities,” in surrounding waterways, including the Tarpon River.
To keep the sewage from getting into the Tarpon River, the city said, “Crews are building a berm that will surround the immediate area of the pipe break to contain the flow. Once the berm is completed, pumps and hoses will be connected to transport the flow from the contained area into a nearby manhole which will then carry it to the G.T. Lohmeyer plant.”
If this seems familiar, in July, FPL subcontractor Florida Communication Concepts damaged a 42-inch water main, cutting water service to part of the city.
