Officials will inspect leaking reservoir

December 26, 1997

Engineers plan to inspect the City of Hagerstown's Smithsburg reservoir, which has been leaking for about two weeks, officials said.

The reservoir is not a source of drinking water for the city's roughly 75,000 water customers, said Dave Shindle, water department engineer.

The dirty water filtered out during the treatment process at the William M. Breichner Water Treatment Plant goes into the Smithsburg reservoir, Shindle said.

The reservoir south of Smithsburg can hold 20 million gallons.

The water is leaking underground through a crack and will reach nearby streams, Shindle said.

Water department officials prefer the water to have time to settle before it reaches the streams, so the streams don't become too muddy, Shindle said.

"It will have to be repaired," said Austin Abraham, the city's project coordinator.

He said he did not know what caused the crack.

The reservoir has lost a significant amount of water but is not empty, Shindle said. Water is constantly going into the reservoir from the plant, which treats water from Edgemont Reservoir east of Smithsburg.

The treated water from the new plant has not been entering the city's distribution system, Abraham said.

The area has been roped off, he said. Officials from Gannett Fleming Engineers Inc. will inspect the reservoir.

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