Water line break shuts down high school for 2 days

GOOD AS NEW Darrell Waldridge and Brandon Moore of Dauenhauer Plumbing finish up at the site of the water line break at Henry County High School on Thursday morning that caused high schoolers to miss two days of school last week.

Last Thursday morning as students arrived at Henry County High School, a water line broke adjacent to the auditorium, forcing school administration to shut off water to the school and send students home for the day.

“It could not have been worse timing for the water line break,” said school superintendent Dr. Jim Masters. “But we did not have a single issue making sure every student made it home safe and in a timely manner.”

School district director of maintenance Rick Fox said that the damage inside of the high school was limited to cleaning.

However, the outside damage forced the high school to stay closed for a second day due to water line repairs.

Brandon Moore of Dauenhauer Plumbing said the 3-inch plastic water pipe installed about 15 years ago broke at a 90-degree turn. He said the effort to repair the damage from the Thursday morning break continued until 1 a.m. Friday morning, but the work stopped because additional fittings were needed to complete the repair.

By Friday afternoon, Moore confirmed that the work for installation of 3-inch copper line replacement had been completed, restoring water to the high school.