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Updated 19 minutes ago

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority estimates it will take two months and $400,000 to repair a deteriorated, century-old water main feeding a reservoir that supplies North Side neighborhoods.

Workers from Butler-based Frank J. Zottola Construction will replace at least eight feet of the 60-inch diameter pipe, PWSA spokesman Will Pickering said. They began excavating on Tuesday.

“Our estimate is two months, but again that's subject to change,” Pickering said. “We think we'll be able to pull it off in that time frame.”

The main runs four miles from the PWSA water works in Aspinwall to the Lanpher Reservoir in Shaler. PWSA is providing water to North Side residents from a reservoir in Highland Park.

Contractors on Monday uncovered the leak that was draining 10,000 gallons per minute into a storm culvert running to the Allegheny River. Pickering said about eight feet of the pipe beneath Parker Street in Etna deteriorated because of age.

“Essentially, the bottom of the pipe fell out from that eight-foot section,” he said.

PWSA will continue supplying about 45,000 North Side residents from the Highland Park reservoir and expects no service disruptions, Pickering said. Parker Street will be closed until the work is finished.

The authority last week discovered water draining from the 133-million-gallon Lanpher Reservoir. Workers could not pinpoint the problem until PWSA shut off water to the faulty pipe Monday.

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com.

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