Tacoma Mall water main break that affected more than 100 restaurants was an accident

Business near the Tacoma Mall mostly returned to normal Friday after an accidental main break cut water at the Krispy Kreme and might have caused discolored water elsewhere in the area.

Tacoma Public Utilities had teams flushing out pipes until 9 p.m. Thursday. Water appeared to run clear as of Friday morning.

SCI Infrastructure, the SeaTac-based contractor whose projects include the Point Defiance Park entrance remodel, was in the process of installing a new water main as part of the mall redevelopment project when the existing main broke, according to Annie Pantzke, community relations manager at TPU.

The News Tribune has contacted both Tacoma Mall owner Simon Property Group and SCI, but neither party offered further information by press time.

Krispy Kreme — the only business directly affected — was without water until 5 p.m. Thursday, at which point Tacoma Water hooked up the business’s line to a nearby fire hydrant.

“When working with our businesses, we do our best to get them back up and running after a disruption like what we say yesterday,” said Pantzke. “Our crews were able to connect Krispy Kreme to another water source that was just as safe as the one they were using.”

The manager at the doughnut shop confirmed that her team was able to start baking last night and open at its standard 5 a.m. Friday.

As for the broken water main, TPU’s teams continue to work on testing the affected area of pipe, which was removed for bacterial testing.

“Part of our safety protocol after a water main break like we had yesterday is to take the portion of pipe impacted offline to make repairs,” said Pantzke, who expects to receive the test results Saturday morning.

A business and resident in the southern part of the affected region — from South 38th Street to South 56th Street, and from Yakima Avenue to Tyler Avenue — reported a “moment” of discolored water early Friday. TPU sent teams to investigate, but the issue resolved itself quickly, according to Pantzke.

Customers might have experienced residual discoloration Friday, she added. In that event, TPU recommends removing the aerator from the faucet and letting the water run for about three minutes. If you have further concerns, call 253-502-8207 until 5 p.m., or 253-502-8344 over the weekend.

This story was originally published January 3, 2020 at 1:40 PM.