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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Water Main Break in Inwood Cuts Off Park Terrace Service

By  Nigel Chiwaya and Carla Zanoni | December 3, 2012 2:19pm 

INWOOD — A water main break left Inwood customers dry until Monday morning — when the liquid that resumed pouring from their faucets was brown.

The burst occurred in an underground pipe beneath West 218th street, between Seaman Avenue and Park Terrace East, late Sunday afternoon, Department of Environmental Protection officials told DNAinfo.com New York.

Crews shut off service to the affected area just after 7:30 p.m. in order to repair the water main, according to a DEP spokesman.

The cause of the break was not immediately clear, according to the spokesman, but the DEP noted that the 12-inch pipe was installed in 1930.

The burst affected residents between West 214th and West 218th streets, from Indian Road to Park Terrace East. Most residents reported no water service from the evening until early Monday, but some said their water never shut off, instead coming out discolored.

Mark Barksdale, a resident of 100 Park Terrace West, first noticed the water Sunday evening.

"There was just a brown water; a really dark brown," said Barksdale, who called 311 to find out what was happening, to no avail.

Agim Rugova, a superintendent at 90 and 98 Park Terrace East, said he began receiving calls from residents in his building at around 8 p.m.

Rugova said more than 20 apartments in his building reported their toilets and sinks overflowed when the water returned at around 3:00 a.m. 

DEP spokesperson Chris Gilbride said that brown water occurs when water is shut off, because the iron sediments in the pipes tend to settle. 

"It's completely safe to drink and you can get rid of it by running your tap for 15 minutes," he said.