Eagles Manor residents make do when water is off

Residents of Eagle Manor used bottled water to cook with, and management brought in big containers of water to help them flush their toilets, but they made it through much of the weekend without water.

Dee Miller, an administrative assistant at the apartment complex, said a water main broke, leaving the facility without water at about 7 p.m. Saturday.

She said city workers brought over containers of water that were distributed to the residents.

The bottled water enabled residents to drink and staffers to make sandwiches to tide people over until water came back on at about 2 a.m. today.

The problem was a break on a main feeder line, a 16-inch main, Havre Director of Public Works Dave Peterson said this morning.

The break was unusual and the cause has not yet been determined. Peterson said the pipe split along the entire length of the segment, something he has never before seen.

Crews were working on the pipe Saturday, and the last workers were back home about 2 a.m. today.

Peterson said it is a main feeder pipe, but other lines were able to supply water to most of the city. The only area without water was primarily near the broken segment, near Eagles Manor, he said.