MBU News

A Big Surgery on Campus – Farewell, Aged Pipes!

October 11, 2007

By Eden Yang

“I want a Grande Café Latte with sugar free vanilla and skimmed milk please.”

“I’m sorry! We only have bottled items, because we still do not have water.”

It was not surprising to hear a conversation like this at The Perk during last week. Because of the water main break, The Perk has been entirely out of water to make any coffee, frappes or smoothies for three weeks and was closed for the first two weeks of the water main breaks.

It not only depressed coffee lovers, but also affected all baristas – workers at the coffeehouse. Beckie Frey, one of the baristas working at The Perk said, “Initially, I was happy because I didn’t have to work, but when I realized how many hours I was missing, I got really upset.”

One week ago, The Perk opened again for students and staff to study or hang out, even though there is still no water.

Besides The Perk, the Administration Building and the Library are also out of water. Restrooms and water fountains are not available to use, so students and staff have to walk down to the Field Building or the Fine Arts Building.

What happened after the first water main break? Ken Revenaugh, the vice president for business affairs, provided a clear explanation in an email to MBU faculty and staff. After the break of a 40+ year old iron pipe between the softball field and Dink Marler Drive, the pipe that feeds water from the gym to the Administration Building (and subsequently to the Perk and the Library) broke.

Unfortunately, the plumber only put a “band-aid” on it, so MBU requested that they come back and replace it. After the repair over the weekend, when they turned the pipe back on, the water line to the Administration Building broke again, in front of the prior repair and underneath the emergency generator. Now the plan is to replace the entire water line. Given the size of the project, it will take several more days before things can return to normal.

#   #   #