Milwaukee's underground steam system hindered by water main break
MILWAUKEE - Hundreds of people in downtown Milwaukee may have found themselves feeling colder than most in the last couple of days. This, after a water main broke and caused steam to shoot high into the air.
"It actually started when a City of Milwaukee water main broke and that flooded millions of gallons of water into our underground steam system. That was flooding our steam system for about 17 hours," said Brendan Conway of We Energies.
That steam is a resource that is used by hundreds of people to heat homes and businesses.
Milwaukee water main break, floods parts of underground steam system (Credit: Parker Gayan)
"We have made remarkable progress on restoring service to customers and by the end of tonight we think we will have all customers restored," Conway said.
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The process to remove all the water has been challenging.
Water main break at Wisconsin and Broadway, Milwaukee
"First thing we had to do is pump that all out and let it cool, and when we talk about pumping that water out -- this water is maybe hundreds of degrees," Conway said. "So much water rushed into from the City of Milwaukee burst main that it actually broke a massive hole into our steam tunnel system. You can see it in this picture, the hole is many many feet big."
Even as the last of the water is pumped out, a vapor is still being produced that is warm to the touch.
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"This whole thing is unique. You have to access it from underground, those steam pipes are 400 degrees, the water when it came into contact with it created massive steam plumes," Conway said.
Milwaukee water main break, floods parts of underground steam system (Credit: Parker Gayan)
Fortunately, things are drying out – and service is being restored.
"The people who have been working so hard, they’re not going to stop until every last customer is restored," Conway said.
We Energies expects a full restoration of service to customers by early Wednesday evening, Nov. 24.
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